Drunk or Not
by laurenventi
Summary: Rory working with her ex-husband...interesting enough? It gets better. Literati, maybe.
1. The Eagle Vs The Times

******A/N: Will be doing some editing on this story, don't know how major it will be yet probably huge since I don't really like how this story was written. Will be posting a chapter for Love Me or Leave Me as soon as I get my laptop charger since I already have most of the chapter saved on that and do not feel like re-writing it. So, stay tuned.**

* * *

Rory stares around the courtroom in a daze. They were never supposed to be here—like this. They were a sure thing.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The judge asks one last time.

Rory looks across the aisle at Jess, but she can't see anything else except them.

_Her lips. His hands. Their bed._

And she doesn't give it a second thought.

She faces the judge again. "Yea, I'm sure." That's it. She was done, with him. With everything.

* * *

Rory walks through the Times and heads for Sarah's office. She drops into the chair as soon as she arrives and sighs. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yea." Her supervisor quickly responds, standing. "We have to go. Now." She ushers her out of the chair and out the door.

"What? Why" Rory asks, confused.

"No time to explain. Three words: Manager of Eagle." Sarah responds vaguely.

"'The Eagle'?" She barely has time to process.

"Yes, we have to get ready. We don't have much time…" She trails off.

"Well, when is he going to be here?"

Sarah stops abruptly. "…Now."

Rory turns around and stops stricken as she stares at Jess.

"Ms. Johannsen." The man next to Jess looks at Sarah. "I hope we didn't give you too much trouble, it was short notice." He continues.

"It was no trouble at all," Sarah responds, continuing. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Hepburn."

He nods in agreement. "This is Jess Mariano." He adds signaling to him. "He just joined our staff earlier this year. This is Sarah Johannsen and Rory Gilmore." He tells Jess.

"Nice to meet you." Jess responds shaking Sarah's hand. He's looking at Rory. She looks away. "Nice to meet, Ms. Gilmore." Jess starts again. "It is Ms. right?" He smirks.

Rory sighs. "Fortunately, yes. It is." She says harshly.

Mr. Hepburn and Sarah take no notice. They walk down the hall to Sarah's office. Rory hurries back to her office. Jess quickly stays on her heel and follows her. Noticing, she quickens her pace and closes the door before he reaches. He places his foot between the door post and enters. Rory picks up her book from her desk and flips through it; Jess picks up a pamphlet and does the same. They both act as if this is normal, but they were far from it.

Rory closes the book harshly. "What are you doing here, Jess—"She starts.

He cuts her off. "Working."

"Then go find Mr. Hepburn. God, I thought you were—"

"Dead? Or maybe you hoped." He says casually. "Tell me, how are you, Ror?"

"I'll be fine when you stop calling me that and even better when you're gone." She responds calmly.

"I see you haven't changed one bit; your attitude still sucks." Jess counters.

"You're one to talk."

"Why do you think we even divorced?" He asks, suddenly.

"Oh, um, could Sheila be the reason? Or was it Sharon? How is she anyway?" Rory spits bitterly, her voice laced with sarcasm.

Jess glares. "That's none of your damn business."

Rory laughs, knowingly. "I bet. You do know how the saying goes: if a person will cheat with you, they'll probably cheat on you."

Jess goes to respond but is cut off by Mr. Hepburn entering. "There you are." He starts. "Harrison called. He's on his way." He closes the door, exiting.

Without another word Jess follows.

Rory sits down in the chair and places her head in her hands and sighs.

* * *

**A/N: Not much changes in this one, but more to come.  
**


	2. Even Coffee Can't Work Miracles

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Gilmore Girls Rory and Jess definitely would have ended up together!

* * *

Rory is on the elevator up to her office. She couldn't shake the feeling that today was going to go horribly wrong. Barely waiting for the doors to open, she flees to the safety of her office. That is until Sarah asks to see her. She feels ridiculous looking around every corner before walking around it, but she doesn't care. She sighs in relief when she closes the door to Sarah's office and leans against it. Hepburn is staring at her when she opens her eyes, which results in her jumping and clutching her chest. _"God!"_ Hepburn smirks and Sarah raises an eyebrow. "I mean…you wanted to see me?"

"You remember Michael Hepburn."

Rory nods and smiles. "It's good to see you again."

He nods curtly before Sarah's continuing. "He and his team will be working here with us for a while." Her smile slowly fades because she can't get past the word 'team'. The word 'team' meant others—other people. Other people meant seeing… "…make them …"

She doesn't mean to and later on she'll swear she didn't know what she was doing, but she turns and walks out of the office right in the middle of the word 'welcome'.

On her way back to her office she notices a group in the corner by the reception desk. Lila signals to her as she passes. Why did her office have to be on the opposite end of the building?

"Just a heads up, we might have a few interns on board."

Rory looks back to the group before facing Lila again. "For how long?"

"Few weeks? Who knows?" When the phone rings, she puts the headset back on and answers. Rory sighs and turns to walk away but is blocked by a girl about her age. And she couldn't place the familiar feeling she gets.

"You here for the internship, too?" She asks Rory.

"No, I work here already." Rory responds.

The girl nods. "Shelly." She introduces. And that was it. Not Sheila. Not Sharon. Shelly. The memories flood back.

"_I hate you." She throws all his possessions at him. Shirt after shirt. Book after book. He attempts to dodge them._

"_Rory, just listen to me for one second!"_

"_Stay the hell away from me!"_

She remembers crying to Lorelai. All of it.

"You look sort of familiar." Shelly continues, pondering. "You're married to Jess, right?"

How dare she bring that up after…what happened? She was there for the entire thing, she knew they weren't together anymore. She wanted to say all the things to her that she never got a chance to. _Was it just because he was married? Why Jess? Why me? Why, why, why? I hate you. _Instead she only says, "Was." As if things couldn't get any worse, Jess exits the elevator behind them. He stops in his tracks and looks between her and Shelly.

"Jess, this is a nice surprise. We were just talking about you." Shelly starts sweetly, oblivious to all the tension in the air.

"Mr. Mariano, it's good to see you again. You remember Ms. Gilmore—" Lila puts her headset down when she notices Jess.

Jess forces a smile and nods at her before turning back to Rory.

Rory walks away, heading down the hall towards her office, leaving them staring after her.

* * *

Rory exits her office and heads to the coffee room. She walks quickly and avoids eye contact with everyone. When she enters Jess is there. She sighs and turns to exit but hesitates and turns to Jess instead.

"Can you leave please?"

"Excuse me? I was here first." Jess counters

"Oh yea? Well…not the paper. So, I win." She responds childishly.

"How old are you?"

"As old as you want me to be, as long as it'll make you leave. Just…please. I'm begging you. I want it, I need it, I'm desperate for it!" Rory begs.

Jess smirks and moves closer towards her. "How do you want me? As a man or as an animal?" He asks sardonically.

Rory isn't amused at all. "Please, go away."

The door opens and Angela walks in. "Oh, sorry." She takes a step back. "I didn't know anyone was in here." She continues.

"Jess was just leaving." Rory says hurriedly.

"No." She holds up her hand. "Don't leave on my account. Please, carry on. Or not." She quickly leaves.

Rory hurries to the door after her. "This isn't what it looks like!" She sighs and faces Jess again. "Could you just leave, everybody's already going to know about this and think something is going on. I really need some coffee." He hands her a mug. "No, I want my own coffee. Not yours." She pushes past him.

He blocks her. "Mine." He holds up a blue mug in one hand. "Yours." He holds up another mug.

"You don't make it right. I take it lots and lots of coffee, three—"

"—Cream, four sugar." He finishes her sentence.

Rory looks shocked. "No. Five sugar." She lies.

"So, add another one." He pushes the mug in her hands. "Rory, come on. If this was somebody else you'd take it."

"Right!" She exclaims. "But it's not somebody else. It's you!" The smell is getting to her and it's too much for her to pass up. "Okay, this doesn't count." She drinks some and can't remember the last time she's had coffee this good. "Now, I can't take this." She tries to push the mug back in his hand.

Jess chuckles. "You just did."

"Did you not hear me say that didn't count?" He's exiting the room and she's trying to get him to take it back. He doesn't. "Fine. I'll just leave it here, then." She places it on the counter and exits. Jess is going down the hall; she goes in the opposite direction. A few seconds later she looks out from behind the wall and hurries back to the coffee room. The janitor is there emptying out all the mugs into the sink. "No." She sighs and sits down at the table with her head in her hands.

"Looking for something?"

Rory looks up startled. Jess is there with the mug in his hand. "Ah…no, I just…" She sighs. "Fine." She takes the mug out of his hand and exits the room. She turns back as he is exiting. Realizing their proximity she quickly backs away, but not before taking in his smell. The scent of his cologne. The smell of cigarettes and aftershave.

He smirks. "…Thank you..." She gets out.

He chuckles at her lack of composure. "You're welcome."

She walks off. "This doesn't change anything."

He walks off in the opposite direction. "Didn't expect it to."

* * *

**A/N: There's a whole new section at the start of this that I didn't intend on putting in here but I ended up deleting the second chapter by mistake and…here you go.**


	3. Pervert, Still Jackass, Nomore!

**Disclaimer:** Does it look or sound like I own GG? Come on! I would speak much more eloquently!! :D

Rory was sitting here in her office with Ryan for the last two hours. And she was still finding it hard to focus because of how he was looking at her. He was cute and all and Lorelai adored him, probably wanted him for herself, but she didn't like him. At least not in that way. So when the knock came on her office she jumped at the chance to get it. Sarah was there and she didn't look happy.

"What's this I hear about you and Jess in the coffee room?" Sarah asks after leading her down the hall.

"What? Nothing." She quickly responds, expecting the rumors. "I met him in there and asked him to leave; Angela caught him being his usual perverted self and took it as something else." She adds. Sarah looks at her skeptically. "Really. Nothing happened."

Sarah sighs. "Fine. If you say so." She looks at Rory curiously as the latter looks down at her shoes. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Rory shrugs and sighs. "Jess is, Jess-Jess."

Sarah looks confused. "What? Jess-Jess?" She ponders. "Oh. Jess-Jess?" She asks again as realization hits her. "Your Jess?"

"Well, not anymore," Rory flushes. "But, yea."

"Seriously?" Rory nods. "Well, that explains all the bickering and odd behavior between you two." She adds as an afterthought. "And there's nothing going on between you two?"

"No."

"Okay." She says after awhile. She changes the subject. "How's the assignment coming?"

Rory breathes a sigh of relief. "It's coming along good. Fine." She shrugs. "Ryan keeps staring at me." She confides in her.

Sarah laughs. "He stares at anything in a skirt." She tries to reassure her.

"Well its making me uncomfortable."

"Some words of advice?" She starts off down the hall. "Finish the piece."

Rory smiles and walks back in her office to find Ryan going through her stuff. "What are you doing?" It comes out harsher than she expected.

"I was just—"

She cuts him off. "Okay, that's it, we'll finish this some other time."

He smiles. "Scared of the attraction between us?" He looks her over.

"There is no attraction between us!" She throws her hands up.

"You can deny it all you want," He's moving towards her. "But I can see it in your eyes…"

"What? The disgust?" She's past frustrated and moving on to perturbed.

"The lust." His hands are stealthily moving on the wall beside her. "You want me, just like I want you." He's reaching for her cheek and she's reaching for the door knob behind her. In her haste to get out she stumbles through the threshold.

"You're such a pervert!"

In a second, a hand is at her waist steadying her. "You okay?" Its Jess. She doesn't even have to turn around. His hand always fit perfectly at her lower back. She barely shakes her head when Ryan exits. She steps back and Jess' hold automatically tightens on her waist.

"In the end, I always get what I want." He tells her before backing away and walking down the hall.

"You sure?" Jess asks her again. She nods and realizes Jess' hand is still at her waist. He must've realized it too because he moves it. Rory clears her throat and tucks her hair behind her ear. "I should go," Jess starts. "I have to run this by Roy and get it to print." He tells her unnecessarily.

"You're done?"

He smirks. "Why does that surprise you?"

"It doesn't." She responds quickly. "I mean, it does, but…" She trails off, shrugging. Truthfully, she had expected him to span out his time with Shelly.

He nods, not understanding at all. "I see you're having some…difficulties." He searches for the right word and comes up with the wrong one.

Rory laughs. "I guess you could call it that."

"Yea, sorry about that."

Rory looks up startled. It wasn't his fault. "It's not your fault." If anything it was hers. It was her fault she ended up working with Ryan.

"I feel responsible." He admits. "If I wasn't such a jackass then maybe you'd want to work with me."

Rory doesn't what to say. "That's not the reason…"

He looks at her skeptically. "It's not?"

"…I mean, I don't think you're a jackass. Not anymore." She rectifies.

"Its good to hear that." He says in her ear.

"Jess!" Hepburn calls down the hall.

He walks off down the hall leaving her speechless.

--


	4. Hospitals,BirthdaysandInsuranceNumbers!

**Disclaimer:_ I swear on...on...my love for Milo that I don't own GG! Huh! :O_**

**_A/N: Sorry I took so long to update but I've been busy with midterms and such! Thanks for all the good, no great, no fabulous--mondofabulous--reviews, guys!! :D. This chapter is probably my longest one yet and it has drama and fluff and other stuffs! Hope you enjoy!_**

Thankfully Rory didn't see Ryan the next day. So far anyway. She just wanted to finish the article. By herself. So when she went to the coffee room and it wasn't empty yet again her heart drops. This time it was Ryan inside. She tries to leave before he sees her but by the time she gets to the door and pulls it open, he's right behind her. He pushes against the door and closes it.

"Why the hell won't you leave me alone?" Rory finally speaks up.

He ignores the question. "Why are you fighting it, Rory? Us?" He asks instead.

She rolls her eyes and laughs. She couldn't help it. This was ridiculous. He was. She quickly sobers before he gets the wrong impression. "If you don't open the door and let me out in the next five seconds, I'm going to scream." She warns him. He looks on disbelievingly, not backing down. "One." Pause. "Two." He hesitates.

He releases the door. "Fine, but when you get your heart broken again, don't come running back to me." Rory sighs and walks out the door and down the hall. The first person she finds is Trish, she walks over to.

"Hey, do you mind coming to the coffee room with me?"

"Sure." Beat. "Why though?" She asks curiously as they head back down the hall.

"Ryan was in there."

Trish nods. "Ah." She opens the door and looks inside. "All clear."

Rory sighs. "Thanks." She enters and heads over to the coffee machine.

"Hey, did you hear about Jess and Shelly?" Trish speaks up suddenly.

Rory stops in mid pour and looks at her. "What?"

Trish leans forward apparently eager to tell the news. "Well, apparently they were caught in the bathroom together this morning. Get this, Jess shirtless…" She trails off unaware of Rory's reaction.

Rory focuses back on her cup and abandons the coffee all together. "Oh?"

"Yea, Jess said it was nothing, but, come on who's going to believe that?" She laughs.

"Right." She exits the room leaving Trish behind and heads for her office. Upon passing the reception area, Lila, the secretary, signals to her.

"Your mom called. I told her you'd call her back, but, she said something about the hospital and Richard."

"Oh my god." Rory says comprehending.

"Who's Richard?"

Rory ignores her. "Oh my god." She walks to the end of the hall then walks back. "God, what am I doing? I have to…" She trails off, walking back to Lila. "Can you tell Sarah I have to go somewhere?" Lila nods. Rory walks away and turns back again. "I should probably tell her where I'm going. Okay, tell her I'm going to the hospital for a second." Beat. "Okay, maybe not for a second but I don't know when I'll be back. God, I hope I don't get fired." She runs her hand through her hair as Sarah comes up behind her.

"Rory, you should sit down."

"No, don't touch me." She backs away from her. "I need to get to the hospital." By this time everyone in the lobby is looking at her. She goes back to the desk. "You know this isn't the first time this has happened. No, he's been in the hospital before. Richard, my grandfather." She's on rant mode again. "My grandmother wouldn't turn down the thermostat and he just fell…in the middle of dinner. He fell, but I guess I was prepared for then, ya know? Even though we weren't that close, of course we aren't that close now but still, just the thought that he could…" She's crying now and getting more hysterical. "He could die. My grandfather," She announces to everyone. "Could die. In fact he could be dead right now. That's a thought, huh?" She laughs hysterically then feels a hand on her shoulder and on her waist. "I don't want to be touched!" She spins around. "Especially not by you. " She adds when she sees Jess.

He pushes her towards the elevator. "Rory, come on. You need to get to the hospital."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Beat. "Don't you think I know I need to get to the hospital? I know okay!" He doesn't respond. He pushes her onto the elevator and presses the ground floor button. Rory slides down against the elevator wall. "Oh my god, my grandfather's in the hospital." She says again.

Jess slides down the wall next to her. "Everything's going to be fine."

**_Later_**

"You know my grandfather didn't actually see me until I was sixteen, I mean technically he did before mom moved us but after that," She shakes her head. "I mean that's probably why we weren't close, right? Then again him and mom weren't close either, especially not after she had me. He thought she was a disappointment." They were in Jess' car on their way to the hospital and she'd been ranting again for the last two minutes. He hadn't bothered to tell her that he'd heard it all before. "Maybe he took it out on me, ya know? Because I wasn't suppose to be there." She continues sighing. "He wasn't like most grandparents, none of them were, the only thing we had I common were pretty much books." She laughs, all the while looking out the window. "And we don't even have Friday Night Dinners anymore, so we haven't talked about anything at all recently."

He pulls in the parking lot and leads Rory out of the car, who hadn't noticed, into the hospital and walk up to the receptionist. "Hi, we're looking for a Richard Gilmore."

"Are you family?" The woman behind the counter asks.

"What do you mean 'are we family'?" Rory asks incredulously. "No, we have nothing better to do than go around from hospital to hospital pretending to be related to—"

"Rory." Jess puts his hand over her mouth and addresses the woman. "Granddaughter." He says simply. The woman looks down at a chart.

"It's Mrs. Gilmore, Mrs. Gilmore. I'm not a Cosmo woman!" Recognizing Emily's voice, Jess shakes his head at the woman and they head around the corner to see Emily talking to a nurse.

Rory quickly sobers. "Grandma, is everything okay?"

Emily spins around and looks at Rory relieved. "Oh thank god! I can't find anything in this hospital. No one will tell me anything. They're so incompetent!" She looks at the nurse in the front of her.

The nurse looks at Rory. "We just need her to fill out these forms. It's procedure."

Rory sympathizes. "I can do it." She turns back to Emily. "Where's mom?"

"How should I know? She went off somewhere hours ago!" She sighs. "Jess. What are you doing her?" She sees him for the first time.

"Ah, I just came to bring—"

She cuts him off. "Are you two back together? Were you on a date?"

"No!" Rory answers quickly. "Ah…Jess just brought me here. To see how things were going."

"With Richard." Jess adds.

"Right, with grandpa." Beat. "We weren't on a date." She repeats. Jess smirks.

"Oh, well. It's nice to see you again, Jess." Emily directs to him this time.

"You too, Mrs. Gilmore." Jess counters.

"No need for formality. We're all family here." Rory rolls her eyes discretely as Jess nods. Emily smiles looking between the two.

"How's Richard?" Jess inquires.

As if remembering why she's here, Emily's smile fades and she turns on the spot. "I wouldn't know." She raises her voice. "I'm not allowed to see him!" The nurse from earlier looks up from behind the counter at them.

Jess walks over and says something to her. He comes back a few minutes later with papers in his hand and faces Emily. "She'll take you to see how he is," He tells her, signaling to the nurse. "While we take care of these." He lifts up the papers in his hands.

"How'd you do that?" Emily asks him, surprised.

"Fortunately, that's one of the things I got from Jimmy." Pause. "Negotiating."

Emily nods before walking down the hall through the double doors as Rory takes the papers out of Jess' hand and sits down. He sits in the chair next to her and she shifts uncomfortably.

"What?" He senses something.

"Nothing." She lies.

He nods not really believing it but accepting the answer anyway. He signals to the papers in her lap. "We should get to work on that."

She quickly answers. "I can do it."

He looks at her skeptically. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm not completely useless." She repeats.

"Never said you were." He sits back in the chair as Rory starts filling out the form.

A few minutes later she looks at him. "You don't have to stay."

He smirks. "Tired of me already?"

"Yes." She answers without thinking. "No." She quickly changes her answer. She sighs, and then repeats her previous statement. "You don't have to stay. You can go."

"I heard you the first time."

"Yea, but you're not leaving."

"Wow that school finally paid off, huh?" Pause. "I'm not going anywhere."

Rory sighs and returns her attention back to the forms on her lap. A few minutes later she looks up again and ponders.

"What?" Jess asks.

"Nothing."

"What?" He repeats. When she doesn't respond he looks over her shoulder at the form. "1001890." He calls off upon seeing the blank next to the insurance number.

She looks at him disbelievingly. "How do you know that?"

He slumps back in the chair. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

He sits up. "Okay." He signals to the numbers as he adds, "two parts. Ignore the zero in the middle. The first ten stands for October, the last four stand for nineteen eight; interchange the eight and nine. One hundred, eighteen ninety." He repeats.

She's still looking at him incredulously. "You used my birthday to remember an insurance number that's not even yours?"

He smirks, shrugging it off. "It was easier that way." He holds her gaze.

"Rory, you're here." Lorelai appears.

"Mom. Where were you?" Rory jumps up, breaking their gaze.

"Ah, I needed to take a breather." She fills her in as Emily approaches.

"He's awake." Emily says before disappearing again.

For the first time, Lorelai notices Jess. "What are you doing here?" Jess smirks at her reaction. "Never mind." She cuts him off. "We'll talk about this later." She directs to Rory before heading down the hall.

"Nice to see you, too!" Jess calls after her. She glares before disappearing through the doors. He looks back at Rory who's pacing. "You gonna go in there?"

"'Course." She says still pacing. "I just need a minute. I'm just—"

"Scared." He offers, cutting her off.

She glares. "Nervous."

"My mistake." He looks away.

She sighs. "Okay." She concedes. "Maybe a little scared."

"Really?" He asks sarcastically. "Never would've guessed."

She ignores him. "But why? I mean, I've done this before. I went in there," She signals to the door. "And everything was fine."

"It's been awhile." Jess tells her.

"Yea, maybe that's' it." She ponders. "He's older now. Nine years older, which means that it's much, much easier for him to…" She trails off allowing him to fill in the blank. Jess sighs and stands expecting a break down. "Why are you standing?" She turns around. "I'm fine." She assures him.

"You're not fine." He tells her knowingly.

"You don't know. What you think you've been around for a few days and that gives you the right to say you know me? You don't know me!"

He doesn't back down. "I know more than you think."

Rory laughs. "Nice line." She says bitterly. "Did you use that on Shelly? Is that why she slept with you?"

Jess sighs and runs his hand over his jaw. This was the last thing he expected—well not the last, but not the first either. "I told you I was drunk." He speaks up finally.

"That doesn't make it right!"

"No, but it does justify it." Beat. "I wouldn't have done it otherwise. You know that."

"I don't know anything anymore." She runs her hand through her hair and once again the tears start to fall.

"What do you want me to do, Ror?"

She winces at the nickname but doesn't answer his question. "Are you two back together?" She asks instead.

"You know we aren't." He says half-heartedly. He was getting tired of this. Of explaining himself.

"That's not what I heard." She says bitterly.

"Right." He snorts. "And everything you hear is the truth, right? Is law?" She looks down guiltily. She shouldn't feel like this. He should. "And let me guess," He continues. "You heard it from Trish, right?" It's rhetorical. "Great source."

"Then what did happen?"

"Will you even believe me if I tell you? Or are you just gonna pick it apart let Lorelai put crap in your head?" He asks again. "I thought so." She doesn't answer and he reads her expression. He sighs before adding, "Sorry about your grandfather. I hope he feels better." He picks up his coat off the chair and puts it on as Lorelai exits. She looks at Jess and then sees Rory crying.

"What the hell did you do, Jess?"

"That's right," He starts. "I'm always the bad guy, right?"

"Hey! Don't—"

He cuts her off. "Look, you don't know what the hell went on here, okay? So just keep your comments to yourself!" He looks to Rory, who has her arms her chest looking down, before he backs away and heads for the exit.

Lorelai slowly approaches Rory. "You okay?"

Rory nods, but doesn't meet her gaze. "I'm fine." She walks off and heads through the double doors. Lor sighs looking back towards the exit before heading back through the door.

**_Same Day_**

"Rory, come on." Lorelai follows Rory out of the hospital.

"No, you come on." She doesn't bother to turn around.

"Just talk to me." She begs. "Tell me what happened."

"No!"

"Don't do this, hun. Why can't you just tell me?" They're walking aimlessly around the lot.

Rory rounds on her. "You really want to know what happened?" She continues after Lorelai nods. "Jess now works in the same building as me."

"What?" Lor asks skeptically.

"Yea and I don't how long he's gonna be here!" She continues on a rant. "And he keeps staring at me, flirting with me, sending me gifts, for about a week now." She shrugs. "He's always nice, apologizing for what happened. He says it only happened because he was drunk." She confides.

"Well of course he's gonna say that; he's trying to get on her good side!" Lorelai blows up, cutting her off.

"And," Rory continues as if nothing happened. "Who else to get the new opening except Shelly?"

"Shelly?" Lor repeats.

"_Her."_ Rory emphasizes. "She's always prancing up and down, 'Jess this' 'Jess stinking that!' just because they're working together." She continues, ignoring the stunned look on Lor's face. "I mean, she's not even suppose to be his partner, I am. Now she's all 'look at me'. I hate her. She's such a slut!"

"Hun, don't do this…" Lorelai trails off knowingly.

Rory ignores her. "And now, there's this rumor going around about Shelly and Jess being caught in the bathroom—"

Lor cuts her off again. "Rory don't let them do this to you! Can't you see he's doing it again! Jess." She adds as if Rory doesn't know who she's talking about. "He's trying to reel you back into his web of lies—"

"No he's not."

Lorelai continues. "He's already cheating and you're not even back together!"

"He didn't cheat; he said it was a rumor. Besides Trish told me, she's the one who blew thing way out of proportion with me and Jess. Her and Angie." She says bitterly.

Lorelai sighs. "You're already making excuses for him, hun. And what thing between you and Jess, did something happen?"

"No!" Rory starts waling again, even though Sarah's not going to be here for another few minutes. "And nothings probably gonna happen now."

"Why are you so upset?" Disbelievingly.

"I'm not."

"You sound upset. Did you want something to happen?"

"I'm not upset, okay!" She ignores the next part of the question. "God! You do pick apart everything and make it worse!" She remember Jess' words.

"Lemme guess, Jess told you that, right?" Lor snarls.

"Yes, and he was right! God, I should never have told you."

"Rory, can't you see what he's doing? He's turning you against me."

"You turned me against him, right?" It's rhetorical. "Call it even."

"No," She holds up a finger. "He did it himself, Rory. When he decided to have sex with Shelly in your bed!"

"Stop it! Just stop it, okay!" Rory cuts her off.

Lorelai ignores it and continues. "He has no respect for you whatsoever. He doesn't love you, he never has. Probably never will." She doesn't care how harsh she's being. She needs to get Rory to see clearly. "Or else he wouldn't have cheated on you."

"I don't want to hear this anymore. Just leave me alone." She's breaking down in the middle for the parking lot. A part of her believes what Lorelai is saying. All of it. And the other part of her doesn't want to. Where the hell was Sarah?

"He's using you Rory! Can't you see that?" God! She was like the energizer bunny. She wouldn't stop talking. "It's the truth."

"I said leave me alone! God, stop following me!" She sighs and hurries toward where Sarah is pulling in the parking lot.

"I'm sure you remember showing up on my doorstep two years ago, you were heartbroken."

"Well, now we know some things never change." Rory responds.

"You know I'm right!" Lorelai calls after her. She sighs as the car pulls out of the lot and walks back inside the hospital.

**_A/N: Hit the pretty button!! You know you want to. :D!_**


	5. It's Not What You Think, Is It?

**A/N: Thanks for those awesome reviews guys and keep 'em comin'!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned GG me and Milo would be doing the dirty! Jk. ;P, Or am I?**

Rory closes the folder on her desk and closes her laptop and slips it in the case. She picks up her bag and folder and hits the light switch on her way out. As she walks down the hall towards Sarah's office her phone vibrates. She pulls it out and sees 'mom' and hits the ignore button before putting it back in her bag. She automatically turns the knob to Sarah's office and regrets it in an instant. Sarah is lying on the desk with her shirt unbuttoned with Hepburn on top of her.

"Oh god!" Rory quickly turns around as Sarah pushes him up off her and stands straightening her skirt.

"This isn't what it looks like." She offers.

Rory nods. "I saw nothing."

"Good." Hepburn speaks for the first time, adjusting his tie.

"I'll just…" Rory raises the folder in her hand and covers her eyes. "…leave this here. On the desk." She feels her way to the desk and drops the folder.

"Rory, you can move your hand, it's--" Sarah starts again, but Rory cuts her off.

"No, I can't." Beat. "Now to get that picture out of my head." She mumbles moving to the door. Jess enters at the same time.

Hepburn throws his hands up. "What is this? A side show?"

"That would actually explain a lot of your behavior." He smirks. "As would this." He notices Sarah's blouse. She notices his gaze and folds her arms in front of her chest. He notices Rory's hand over her eyes and chuckles unconsciously. "Ya know its okay for you to move your hand. Nothing's happening."

"I know that." She moves her hand and steps back when she notices their proximity.

He doesn't note her reaction. "If you could pull yourself away for just a second." He turns to Hepburn. "I need to talk to you." He doesn't wait for a response. He exits the office. Hepburn follows. Rory looks back to Sarah and quickly remembers why she was leaving and immediately exits. She heads down the hall to the bathroom. On her way back she spots Jess walking back to his office and Hepburn heading back towards her.

"Remember…" He starts.

"I saw nothing." Rory says continuing down the hall. She stops in front of Jess' office instead of heading to the reception area and knocks. He opens the door after awhile and looks surprised. "Hi." Rory starts.

"Come in." He holds the door open and heads back in.

"I can't stay long." She remains near the door. "I just wanted to…apologize…for the other day…"

"It's okay," He throws the stack of papers in the box on the table and picks up his briefcase. "That's not necessary."

"Yes it is," She takes in the boxes on the desk. "Are you going somewhere?"

"California." Is all he offers. "Look could we make this quick?"

"Uh…" She loses her train of thought and it doesn't help when Shelly appears at the door. She smiles sweetly at Rory and faces Jess.

"Could you hurry? The cab's waiting downstairs and the meter's running." He nods and she walks down the hall.

"Can we do this another time?" He picks up the bag at his feet.

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry and…" She's thrown by Shelly's words. "…it's hard work. Apologizing to someone, the least you could do is have the decency to not pack while the apologizer," She signals to herself. "tells the apologizee how they feel okay?"

He glances around the office and picks up the box. "We done here?"

Rory glares and exits heading down the hall. Jess gives the office one last glance before closing the door behind himself.

**GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG**

"Stop looking at me like that." Sarah warns.

"How else am I suppose to look at you?" Rory asks rhetorically. "I saw you having sex with Mr. H—"

Sarah holds up her hand. "Would you keep your voice down?" Beat. "It wasn't sex." She whispers. Rory shrugs. "Besides that's not what we're talking about." She holds up Rory's folder. Rory's phone vibrates, but it stops when she pulls it out. It beeps signaling a new voicemail. "Aren't you gonna get that?"

"I'll check it later." Rory responds. A second later Hepburn knocks and enters. "On second thought…" She hurriedly exits the office and dials her voicemail. When she chooses to hear the new message Lor's voice filters through the phone. 'Hey, hun. It's me again…' Rory closes the phone and heads back to the office as Hepburn exits.

"That was strictly platonic." He starts, signaling behind him.

Rory nods skeptically. "Better to be safe than sorry, right?" She shrugs.

"Funny." He walks past her heading down the hall.

"As long as we're on the subject of Jess," Rory turns after awhile and faces him.

He turns around confused. "Who was talking about—?"

"You can tell him," Rory ignores him. "That his behavior did not affect me yesterday, and…"

He crosses his arms. "Cut him some slack, Gilmore. His father just had a heart attack."

"What?" Rory stops abruptly, trying to process. "Is he okay?"

"No. He's dead."

Rory feels the office spinning around her and her heart constricts in her chest. She heads back in the office and picks up her bag on the floor. "I have to go."

Sarah looks up startled. "What? Rory?" She stands.

Rory ignores the question. "I have to go." She repeats and exits the office.

**A/N: Did you guys like it? Tell me what you liked and didn't like! In order to do that you have to hit the flashing button at the bottom of this note...wait, what? It's not flashing? Since when? sighs Fine, just hit the regular boring submit button. I'll see if I can work on the flashing thing with the admins. :D. Lol.**


	6. The Crying Game!

**Disclaimer: Can someone help me find a magic lamp so that I can wish that I owned GG!! Oooh ooh and Milo!! :D.**

**A/N: I decided that I wouldn't make you guys wait too long for the next chapter because of such the great reviews I got for the last one!! Thanks guys, appreciate it!! Now on with the story!**

Rory slowly approaches Jimmy's house and hesitates when she reaches the door. She knocks and Jess answers a second later. She looks up startled. She hadn't expected him to answer so quickly. He looks surprised when he sees her.

"Hi." She starts. "Um…I heard about Jimmy. I'm so sorry. How are you taking it?" Before he can answer, she cuts him off. "'Course you're not taking it well. Uh…is there something that you need? Anything I can do?" She finally pauses for a breath.

Jess slowly nods. "Come in." He opens the door wider and she steps inside and automatically notices the boxes in the room. She looks in the nearest box and pulls out a baseball card.

"These boxes are for…"

"Yea." He cuts her off, putting his hand on the back of his head. "He was obsessed with baseball." Beat. "He actually called me couple days ago to go to a game with him," He sighs. "I told him I was busy."

Rory places the card back in the box and faces him. "You didn't know."

He shrugs. "Guess that goes to show how sucky I am at relationships."

"You do not suck at relationships." Rory protests.

"I'm pretty sure I do." He insists. "I'm not getting the award for 'Husband of the Year' anytime soon. If you can imagine, I'm an even worse son."

"That's not the same thing." She tries to reassure him.

"Every opportunity I had, I told him what a crappy father he was and I ruined ours." He admits signaling between them.

Rory tucks her hair behind her ear and switches the subject back to Jimmy. "Well, he wasn't exactly 'Father of the Year'."

Jess snorts. "'Course he wasn't. He wouldn't be Jimmy if he was."

"That's not what I meant." Rory explains. "You don't have to feel like you owe him."

He ignores the comment. "I feel like I'm not grieving enough."

"Everyone grieves in their own way."

"Yea, but shouldn't I be crying or…I don't know…"

"Don't do that." Rory responds quickly.

"Will it freak you out?" He smirks.

"Definitely." She smiles. "You don't have to cry."

"Don't I?"

"Do you want to cry?" Rory asks seriously.

He moves back to packing boxes. "I think I'm good."

Rory nods and continues looking through the boxes. "Oh my god." She pulls out a picture out of one of the boxes. "Please tell me this is a picture of Jimmy as a kid."

He turns and right away notices the picture in her hand. He quickly moves towards her. "Jeez. Give me that." He reaches for the picture but she pulls it back looking at it again.

"This is you?" Rory laughs. She holds out the photo behind her back. He attempts to reach behind her. "You played soccer?" He grabs the photo out of her hand. "I wasn't done with that."

He puts the photo back up ignoring her. "Sue me. I was ten." He says harshly.

Rory looks taken aback. "Sorry." She quickly sobers. "It was a joke." Pause. "I know you were young." She turns and faces the box behind her.

He sighs and runs his hand over his jaw. "Look, I didn't mean anything by it; it just…brings up some bad memories." He sits in a clearing in the middle of the room. Rory nods and sits next to him on the floor. "I only joined because of Jimmy." Jess starts. "It was the first game of the season and he didn't even bother to show up." Pause. "That was the last time I believed him when he said he'd be somewhere." He shakes his head. "Even Liz showed up. Stoned, but nonetheless." He shrugs.

"Hey, a showup's a show up." Rory counters. He pulls the picture out of the box. "I'm sorry I mocked your picture."

He shrugs. "It's…mockworthy."

Rory nods slowly. "How long--?" She starts again.

He cuts her off expecting the question. "I quit the next day."

She nods knowingly. "Ah."

He shakes his head laughing bitterly. "He never even figured out why." Rory doesn't what to say. She slowly reaches for his hand and he looks up when her hand closes over his, not expecting it. His hand was warmer than she remembered and the firm assuredness of his grip makes her shiver. His gaze pierces her and she looks down at her lap. He squeezes her hand reassuringly.

**--SAME DAY--**

"I can't believe you're gonna let me carry the heavy box!" Rory says as Jess picks up the next box and heads for the door.

"You volunteered." He says simply. "I told you I would carry them." He adds matter-of-factly.

"I was trying to be helpful." Beat. "I didn't know it weighed six tons!"

He smirks. "Then help me by not complaining." He places the box in his hand back on the floor and takes the one from her hands. As he turns, there is a knock on the door even though it's open.

Liz is standing there. "Jessie!" She throws her arms open and has a huge smile on her face.

Jess sighs. "Jimmy's dead Liz," He starts. "There's nothing to smile about."

"I'm happy to see you!" She lowers her arms. "I can't be happy to see you?"

Jess ignores the question. "Please tell me that T.J.'s not with you."

"No." She turns to Rory. "Hi Rory." Then addresses them both. "But I found someone else outside." She moves back outside and comes back in seconds later with a not too surprised Lorelai. "Surprise!"

"Mom," Rory looks confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Or happy. She looks between Jess and Rory. Jess sighs and brushes past them and goes outside. "You're avoiding my calls." Liz follows after him.

"Because we're not talking." She folds her arms. "Besides I don't exactly want to hear what you have to say."

"You mean that Jess is scum and you shouldn't be here? Helping him?" Lorelai asks casually.

"Exactly!" She counters exasperated. "I'm here helping him. Helping!" She stresses.

"He doesn't need your help. He has Liz. And he doesn't exactly want your help because, get this?" She laughs humorlessly despite Rory's cries of 'You don't know that!' "He has Shelly. Now that isn't exactly fair is it?" Rory clenches her jaw and looks down but before she can respond Jess reenter the room followed by Liz.

"What the hell do you know about what's fair, or…right?" He directs to Lorelai.

"Everything you don't!" She counters.

He ignores her and continues. "You can barely keep your own relationships together—no surprise there." She goes to respond but he cuts her off. "So this crappy advice you're dishing out is not doing anything except make everything worse!"

"Poor Jess' plans not working." Lor spits out sarcastically.

"So stop it because you don't know what the hell you're talking about!" He continues as if she hadn't intervened. "I suggest you take a look at your own life and fix it before you can come and start giving people—"

"Jess!" Liz finally intervenes. He puts his hand over his jaw. Lorelai starts to respond but this time Rory cuts her off, looking appalled.

"Mom, stop it! Just stop it, okay?" Beat. "God! He just lost his father and you're not exactly helping the situation." She sighs and looks down, folding her arms.

Instead of turning back to Jess Lorelai turns to Liz. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Are you?" Beat. "I'm not." She shrugs. Lorelai ignores her turning back to Rory, looking between her and Jess before backing away and exiting. Liz quickly follows out behind her. Rory turns to Jess not sure of what to say.

"Are you okay?" She starts.

He sighs clenching his jaw. "I'm fine." Rory nods looking around. "Ah," He scratches the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

She shrugs it off. "It's okay." Pause. "She didn't exactly discourage you."

He picks up the last box and holds the door open for her. She slowly walks to the door and exits. He closes the door behind them.

**A/N: Sooooo? Rory and Jess, sittin' in a tree f-u-c-- lol!! I tried not to add too much fluffs because he's supposed to be grieving...well, 'Jess grieving' anyway, which is pretty much indifference. Lolz, tell me what you think!!**


	7. Crying Dreams!

****

**Title: Drunk or Not**

**Chapter: Crying Dreams**

**Rated: R**

**A/N: Sorry it took me soooo long to update, but I've been so busy with midterms and stuff plus my computer was being fixed, but its finally here! Love the scene from season 5, luke n lor breakup so thought I'd try it out, see how it works!! Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Me owning GG is like, like...Jess liking Rand. Impossible!! :D.**

Rory found herself sitting on the couch flipping through the channels and the next thing she knows she has it on Barbra Streisand in 'The Way We Were' It was barely thirty minutes into the movie and she's already going to the hall closet and pulling Jess' box down. She had completely refused to make one but Lorelai had made her saying that it was apart of the grieving process. She carries it back to the couch and looks through it one item at a time and the first item she comes across is a card with various players on it and the line: 'The problem all players have…' She opens the card and reads, '…is falling hard and not wanting to get back up.' Rory sighs and places the card on the side of her and reaches back inside the box. This time she pulls out a velvet jewelry box. She runs her thumb over it before opening it and seeing her engagement and wedding ring inside. The first was a square cut diamond with a gold band while the latter was a bigger version of the former. What she liked about it was the engraving on the inside: 'È qui il mio cuore. Custodirlo bene.' Here is my heart. Guard it well. She didn't want to put it up back in the box and she wasn't even aware of how much time had gone past. Before she puts her hand back in the box she spots 'Atlas Shrugged' and pulls it out. She runs her hand over the spine and spells it for what felt like hours before opening it. It automatically opens to the middle of the book and she runs her fingers over the gap in the center. A perfect square all through the remainder of the book. Jess' proposal. HE had placed the engagement ring at the center. Then, Rory couldn't figure out why he was so interested in the book because it was Ayn Rand. When she found it she had scolded him for cutting out the pages of a 'perfectly good book' and asked why he couldn't have used Hemingway. He had cut her off asking her for her answer. She said yes and promptly mourned the pages of the book. Rory sigs and closes the books as tears slide down her face. She hadn't cried over this in more than a year. The last time she had looked through the box. She doesn't remember getting up off the couch, carrying the book with her or picking up the phone and even dialing Jess' number. But she does ad the answering machine comes on.

"Jess, hi. Ah…its me, um…I know that I probably shouldn't be calling but, I was watching 'The Way We Were' and I don't know if you remember it, but it got me thinking and I was just wondering do you remember when Katie and Hubbell broke up because his friends were joking and he was…um, going off to Hollywood and she called him and asked him to come over because he was her best friend and she needed her best friend and…he came over and they talked and talked all night and they went off to Hollywood together which was, a disaster but it was great at first and I was just wondering…can you come over…just please…I really need to see you and talk to you—I mean I went through your stupid box, bet you didn't know I had a Jess box, huh?" She's past upset, in fact, that would be an understatement. The tears are falling thick and heavy. "…just, please come over. Please." She hangs up the phone and it doesn't take her long to realize what she did. She gets up and grabs her coat and heads for the door.

___________________________________________________________**LATER_____________________________________________________________________**

It takes awhile for her to clear her head and to realize that she doesn't know where she's going. She promptly heads back home and is approaching the porch when she notices the door is open. Jess exits. She stops in her tracks and opens her mouth but nothing comes out.

He starts. "You okay?" She attempts to nod. "I got your message." He adds.

Rory sighs. And looks down. "Ah, yea…about that. I was just a little…drunk." She lies.

He looks at her skeptically. "Drunk?" He repeats. "You don't drink."

Rory looks startled. "I never said on alcohol." He looks confused. "Besides, that was a mistake. I can't exactly call you anytime I want." Beat. "I mean, I don't know what I was thinking—I wasn't thinking. It's not exactly like we're together. And we haven't been for…" She ponders even though she remembers it's been exactly two years, one month and five days. "…two years now. And to pretend otherwise now would be stupid and…foolish. I mean I couldn't possibly have been thinking. I…must have had a stroke or something. I mean I went looking through that stupid box." Pause. "I haven't been in there in over a year and all of a sudden I'm pulling out that stupid card for our anniversary and 'Atlas Shrugged'." She takes a deep breath and crosses her arms. "I can't just call you whenever I want. That's not how it works, and I called about that stupid movie; you probably think I'm insane—I am insane."

"Rory." Jess finally intervenes.

"What?" Rory responds harshly.

"Shut up." He says simply before closing the gap between them. She's startled beyond control and she barely has time to catch her breath before he's trailing his tongue over her lips. Her hands move to the front of his tee shirt on his chest as she slowly opens her mouth. She sighs at the gentle inquiry of his tongue and his hand moves to the side of her face and his thumb traces circles on her neck. He pulls away and moves to the next side of the stairs. Their breath mingles.

Rory tries to level her breathing. "How did we get here?" Her voice barely comes out and her eyelids suddenly feel heavy.

He slides his hand over his jaw. "I don't know." He responds huskily. "Rory, I don't know what the hell I'm doing here," He shakes his head, "but if you want me to stop, I will."

But she didn't want him to stop. She was engulfed by a craving so fierce that it left no room for rationale or even further discussion. She utters the only two words that came to mind and they were enough for him. "Don't stop." She hears his breath catch in his throat. "No, wait…" She loses her train of thought because he's kissing her again. She was too far gone to think clearly. She wanted this as she had never wanted anything inn her life. His hands move to her waist and it isn't long before she feels her back against the door. He was so close to her she could distinguish each smell clinging to his skin. He tasted of cigarettes and he smelled of soap and aftershave and when he touched the sides of her face, she quivers remembering that this was exactly how it was kissing him. It was good, so incredibly good, to be kissed by him again. He sucks greedily on her lips and she opens her mouth welcoming his warm, gently probing tongue. And when he leans further into her, she whimpers feeling his hips against hers. Her stomach is fluttering like mad and her mind is racing and she can't do anything except feel. And need. She needed him desperately—had for years.

"Jess." She breathes into his mouth.

He doesn't respond, he understands and reaches for the knob behind her. They stumble through the threshold and he kicks the door shut behind them.

**A/N: So what'd you think? Was it up to par? Better That's what the button is for!! Reviews are my lobster, don't forget it!!**


	8. Wander List

**A/N: Sorry _lillitgirlx2 _I had to do it for story purposes! Lol, but I'm a huge literati fan!!**

**Disclaimer: Hayden sucks!! What does Milo see in her and why did him and Alexis break up? I know this is suppose to be a disclaimer, but seriously? Me? Owning GG? Even in my wildest dreams thats not possible!! :D.**

**--**

The stupid alarm was going off again and it took all she had not to throw it across the room. Rory sighs and hits the snooze button and immediately notices her state. She quickly jumps up, the sheets wrapped around her leaving Jess with nothing.

"Oh my god." She quickly turns around as Jess slowly sits up.

"You okay?" He says completely aware of their state.

"No, I'm not okay!" In her anger, she momentarily forgets and faces him. "Jeez." She covers her eyes.

He crosses the room and picks up his boxers and jeans, putting them on. "In light of what's happened here I think you can look." He says, lightly smirking.

She moves her hand. "You think this is funny?" She asks incredulously.

"Actually—"

She cuts him off. "I can assure you its not!"

"You want to get dressed or are you gonna stand there for the entire—"

"I'm quite fine over here, thanks." She runs her hands through her hair. He smirks picking up his tee-shirt and pulls it over his head approaching her. Rory shrinks back into the corner gripping the sheet tighter. "What are you doing?" He ignores the question, tracing a finger up her arm. "Stop that!" She hits his hand away.

"Is that really what you want?" He catchers her eye.

"We will not talk about what I want!" Rory responds adamantly.

He chuckles. "So you do like when I—"

Rory holds her hands up cutting him off. "The least you could do is be serious. God! I mean…" She tucks her hair behind her ear again. "…we just…"

"Technically, it was last night," Rory glares. "It's not a big deal…" He realizes his mistake when he sees her expression.

"Are you serious?" Beat. "We haven't…"She searches for the right words.

He reels off suggestions. "Slept together? Made love? Had sex? Screwed? Fucked? Take a pick."

"Thank you for that." She says flushing. He nods unnecessarily. "The point is that it is a big deal." She assures him.

"You didn't seem to think so last night." Rory looks down and picks up her clothes from the floor. Jess chuckles again, dropping the subject. Rory sighs and enters the bathroom, relief flooding through her. She takes her time changing into her clothes and examining herself in the mirror and still gives it another ten minutes before opening the door. She closes it again and counts to five—in hopes that she's imagining. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. She pulls it open again.

"You're still here."

He leans back in the chair and smirks. "Nice observation."

"Why are you still here?" She asks hysterically.

"Fortunately, I'm free, so I'm yours for the day." Beat. "Pun intended."

Rory glares before going to the door and holding it open. "Get out."

"Rory…" Jess starts seriously, approaching her. "We need to talk about—"

"No."

"Rory—" He tries again.

"No!" Beat. "Jess, please. Just…go. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk." She tells him.

"Will you?" He asks knowingly. "You always do this, you run scared and—"

"—I just need time to think and—"

"Talk to Lorelai." He cuts her off.

"Process." She corrects. "And—"

He cuts her off yet again. "Write a pro/con list."

"Figure things out." She finishes.

"We'll figure it out, now." He starts. Rory shakes her head, but he ignores it. "Here. Together."

"No!" Jess sighs and clenches his jaw. "Sorry, I just, I need…"

"Time." He finishes, nodding.

"Yea." She looks down at the space between them.

"Okay." He tilts her head up and meets her gaze and smiles reassuringly. He drops his hand and walks off. She watches after him before closing the door and leaning against it. She sighs.

---

Rory leans against the head board of her bed. Every now and again she glances at the phone on the night stand. She finally picks up the remote and turns on the TV. flipping through the channels. She stops on the food channel and watches absentmindedly putting the remote beside her. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she finally reaches for the phone and dials an all too familiar number.

"Hello?"

She hesitates and opens her mouth but no sound comes out. A 'hello' can be heard again on the other line followed by a 'Rory'. "Ah, mom…hi…"

This time its Lorelai's turn to hesitate. "Is everything okay?"

"Ah, yea…no, maybe." She laughs just to ease the tension. "I just wanted to talk, ya know?"

"Uh huh." Lorelai responds knowingly, waiting for Rory to continue.

"Ah…" She takes a breath. "…I, slept with Jess…"

Lorelai moves to the kitchen table and sits down sighing.

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**A/N: Please R&R!! I feel like I'm saying B&B, lol. Reviews make the world go round...well my world anyway.**


	9. Woman on the Verge of A NervousBreakdown

**A/N: Finally!! I hope its worth it, I spent the entire morning trying to get the second half right!! Hope you guys like it, enjoy!!**

**Disclaimer: Do we have to go over this again? Fine. I don't own GG.**

**--**

Lorelai brings the mugs of coffee to the table and sits one in front of Rory before taking a seat. Rory smiles appreciatively before looking down at it. They sit in silence for a few minutes.

"So…" Lorelai starts.

"So…" Rory copies.

Lor sighs again. "You gotta work with me here, hun."

Rory nods. "I know." Beat. "This is akward…" She signals between them.

Lorelai nods. "Yea." She sips her coffee again before continuing. "Just, start again."

Rory nods pondering. "I thought I was imagining things when…he first showed up. Or hallucinating, or…something." She shrugs. "I don't know. A part of me was so glad to see him. So…happy that he was there. I thought he came back for me." She doesn't want to see Lorelai's expression when she says it, so she looks down yet again. Lorelai sighs openly but clenches her jaw and looks down at her mug as well. "And the other part of me," She shakes her head. "was so angry. How dare he show up there, where I worked? How dare he pretend everything was normal or okay between us? I wanted to hit him and hug him at the same time." She sips her coffee letting Lor digest the information. "When I was talking to you on the phone that day and told you I had to go it was because I found the reception area littered with flower baskets." Pause. "I didn't dare let myself think that they were from him, but…they were." She says wistfully, finally having the courage to meet Lor's gaze which is surprisingly neutral. "I was so sure he had changed, ya know? He'd never bought me flowers before. Only cards and jewelry." She offers by way of explanation to Lorelai's confused look. "At other times, when I saw him with Shelly, I thought…'people don't change'. But then when he was with me…he was different."

"Different how?" Lorelai finally speaks up.

Rory shrugs again. "Just different. Better." She sighs. "He didn't even kiss me when we were alone; he said he wanted me to trust him."

"And do you?" She's afraid to hear the answer.

"Maybe…I don't know." Beat. "I guess I had to have slept with him." It doesn't come out a joke like she intended. It only made things worse.

"Yea." Beat. "Did you regret it?"

Rory ponders. "Honestly?" She continues after Lor nods. "I wanted to but I didn't. Don't." She corrects. "I regret not regretting it." She shakes her head. "I didn't even want him to leave."

"Then why did you make him?"

"Because, I was supposed to. I wasn't supposed to like it. The way he makes me feel, but I did. Do." Lorelai sighs. "Tell me what to do."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because, you won't like what I have to say." Rory deflates. "I still stand by what I said before and you sleeping with him doesn't change that. In fact it makes it worse." She notices Rory's reaction. "Look hun, you don't have to like what I have to say nor do you have to take my advice but—"

"Suppose it was Luke." Rory cuts her off.

Lorelai stops. "It isn't."

"But what if it was!"

She looks at her coffee and sighs before looking back at Rory. "That doesn't change anything."

"You're just saying that because it hasn't happened." Rory rolls her eyes.

"Right. It hasn't happened."

"People can change!" Rory ignores her.

Lorelai clenches her jaw and shakes her head. "People can change." She assures her. "But only if they want to."

Rory folds her arms and leans back in her chair. "I just, I…really missed him."

"I know kid."

Rory nods. They sip their coffee in silence.

--

Rory enters the main building and sees the elevator closing. She hurries towards it already late.

"Wait! Don't close the—" She sighs as the elevator door closes as soon as she reaches it. "Dammit!" The wait for the next one takes longer than she can afford, she ponders whether to take the stairs up to the top floor. When she picks up her bag the second elevator arrives and she breathes a sigh of relief. Out of nowhere Jess enters the elevator before she does and she hesitates.

"Going up?" He smirks. A part of her thinks he did it intentionally; he wasn't even around when she came in. She made sure of it. He was probably waiting in hiding, she thinks. "Rory?"

"…I'm thinking…" She admits.

"Ya know, its not brain surgery, you just have to get on the elevator." He says sarcastically.

"Ah…" She takes a step back. "I'll just wait for the next one."

He studies her curiously for a few seconds. "What exactly is the problem? What are you afraid of?"

She shakes her head. "No problem."

He immediately notes she disregards the second half of the question. The elevator starts to close and he reaches his hand out to stop it before it does. "Rory, come on. We're going on the same floor." Beat. "You're going to be even later if you wait for the next elevator…" He strikes a chord and he knows it as he watches her weigh her options. "We don't even have to talk…" He adds. She sighs before finally boarding the elevator. He reaches across her and hits the button on the panel. She takes a step back as his hand brushes the front of her stomach. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion. The elevator wasn't moving fast enough in her opinion.

She sighs and runs her hand through her hair, before noticing his smirk. "What?" She fidgets.

"I said nothing." He continues to watch her. "You're avoiding me." She ignores it. Him. "Okay, that was me saying something."

Rory sighs but doesn't face him. "See this falls under the category of 'talking'."

He ignores the comment. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Rory spares him a glance. "If I was avoiding you I wouldn't be here."

He nods absently. "So you're here willingly?" Rory breathes a sigh of relief as the elevator comes to a stop and the door opens. She immediately hurries out. He follows and places a hand on her elbow, turning her around. "Rory, we need to—"

"Not yet." She expects him to bring it up.

"Why not?" She looks around checking to see if anybody was around. She spots Sarah and shifts uncomfortably. "It's been three—"

"I can't do this now." She turns but he cuts in front of her.

"Well, when?" He sighs.

She folds her hand. "…Um, I don't know."

"We've had this conversation before."

"I need to meet—" She signals to the direction of Sarah, who's talking to Angie.

"Okay, well have dinner with me." He cuts her off.

She looks taken aback. "Um…I don't see how that'll—" Rory starts.

"All we'll do is talk." Jess assures her.

Rory hesitates. She looks over at Sarah who signals to her, she looks back at Jess. "Jess…"

"Just say 'yes'."

She takes a breath. "Okay."

Jess nods. "Okay."

She turns to walk off but stops and faces him again. "Uh…should we—I mean—"

"—I'll meet you after. In the parking lot." He tells her.

"Okay." Pause. "Good."

He smirks. "Good."

Rory looks around not sure what to say or do. He watches her. "I'm just gonna—" She cuts herself off and signals towards Sarah's office.

"Right." He nods and watches her walk away before heading around the corner to his office.

**--**

**A/N: See I got it on Friday like I promised! So please leave a review! Don't make me beg, cuz I will. Lol :D.**


	10. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

**A/N: OMG, can you believe I finally got this up?! I spent half my class yesterday typing this up and this morning! I'm kind of happy with it. But don't let that discourage you!! Lol. Hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: Do wishing wells and shooting stars work? 'Cuz I've wished I owned GG hundreds of times and still nothing!! :(**

**--**

Rory walks to Angie's office and enters. Angie looks up as she enters.

"Sarah wants you to look over these before you leave." She hands her a folder and exits before reentering. "Oh and Hepburn wants to see you before you leave." Angie nods as Rory heads back down the hall towards her office. She picks her up her laptop case and folder before switching the light off and heading towards the reception area. When she walks past the front desk she notices Stacey's gaze. "What?"

Stacey shakes her head. "Nothing. It's just…" She hesitates. "You look happy. Not like your normal happy, but ever since you came in this morning you couldn't stop smiling."

"What?" Rory laughs. "That's not true. I have not been smiling the entire day." Stacey looks at her disbelievingly. Rory's smile fades. "Oh god, I've been smiling the entire day." Stacey nods. Rory walks away absently and waits for the elevator. God, she was pathetic! It was just dinner. That's all. With Jess. Dinner with Jess. God she was smiling just thinking about it! Rory looks around and enters the elevator absently and presses the ground floor. What if she didn't stop smiling through out the entire dinner? She could picture that stupid smirk on his face if he saw her. Thank God she didn't see him for the rest of the day! Jeez she probably shouldn't even go through with it before she ended up making a fool out of herself. Yea that's would she'd do. Not go through with it. She hurries out the elevator and walks quickly through the foyer and outside to her car in the parking lot. She looks around and quickly puts her stuff on the passenger seat and starting the car, then she hesitates. What would she tell him? She was bound to see him, probably the next morning he'd be waiting for her again. She cuts off the car and ponders. Maybe she didn't have to tell him anything, she could just ignore him. Yea that would work. She turns the key in the ignition before she sighs again. So what if she was smiling the entire day? Was that a bad thing? She reaches for her stuff on the seat.

"Going somewhere?"

Rory jumps and faces the window where Jess is standing. "I wasn't!" She says quickly.

He studies her before nodding. "Okay." He signals across the parking lot. "We should go together in my car."

Rory hesitates. "Why?"

"So I know your not ditching me." He tells her seriously.

"You don't trust me?" She asks half joking half seriously.

"On this…" He pretends to ponder. "No." Rory looks at him and doesn't move. "We should…go" He signals to his car again.

Rory finally exits the car. "Fine." They walk across the parking lot towards the black _Lamborghini_ and Jess walks ahead and opens the door. "What are you doing?" Rory asks quickly.

He looks at her strangely. "Opening the door for you."

"Don't…" It was meant to be a neutral statement. It comes out more as a plea.

He leans over the door. "Why not?"

"Because…your making it hard for me hate you." She says simply.

He chuckles. "You don't hate me." He responds confidently.

Rory tucks her hair behind her ear and looks around the parking lot before looking back at him. "…You're making it easier for me to like you."

He chuckles again. "That's the point."

Rory sighs before getting in the car. He closes the door before going around to the driver side and getting in.

--

"How's Richard?" He hesitates about bringing it up because of what happened between them. But he needs segue.

Rory looks up surprised. She had expected him to 'jump right in there'. "Um…good, better. They say he can leave in a couple days."

"Good." Beat. "And Lorelai?"

This time she can't hide the surprise. "I thought we were gonna talk about—" She looks down at the table.

"I'm beating around the bush." He shrugs.

Rory looks up gratefully. "Oh." Pause. "Thanks." He nods. "I'm sorry about Jimmy." She tries.

He smirks. "I think you mentioned that."

She nods. "That was my attempt at segue."

"So, how is Lorelai?" He repeats his question.

"Um…I talked to her about…us." She admits fidgeting with her hands.

It's his turn to be surprised. "I figured you would." Not at her response, but that she chose now to bring it up. Truthfully he had expected to be the one to bring it up. Rory nods at his words. "And…"

"And…she still hates you." She shrugs this time. "Worse actually."

"Is that even possible?" Jess asks sardonically.

Rory smiles. "At first I thought 'no', but apparently so. She's already imagined a hundred different ways to decapitate you."

He smirks. "Oh yea?" Rory nods. "Which way was the best?"

"Dull hedge clippers."

A waitress returns to their table and takes their order. Jess waits until she leaves.

"I thought we were past the hedge clippers stage."

Rory shakes her head. "No, no, no, no, no. At first they weren't dull; she just wanted to kill you what ever means necessary. Quick and painless. Now…" She trails off. "Not so lucky."

He chuckles. "Ah…" He nods understanding. "We wouldn't want it to go quick now would we? Where's the fun in that?"

"Exactly." Rory smiles at him before looking down at her hands on top of the table. "I don't regret what happened."

He smirks. "That's good to hear." He catches her gaze. "But I already knew that."

Rory nods slowly, continuing. "But…I don't know if I can do this…" She signals across the table between them.

Jess studies her not expecting it. "Look, Rory, I know I've caused you a lot of pain, but the funny thing is, all I wanna do is make you happy." He admits.

Rory smiles at the raw truth and sincerity in his statement. "You can start by paying for dinner." She jokes.

"Done." He doesn't hesitate.

Rory sighs looking at him seriously. "So…" Pause. "What now?"

"Now?" Beat. "Now we eat." He looks at her seriously. "We can talk about it later." Rory sighs gratefully and picks up her water goblet.

--

"You don't have to do this." Rory tells Jess as they walk through the parking lot.

"So you've said for the millionth time already." He ignores it like he did the first time.

Rory looks around before looking back in front of her noticing her car a few feet away from them. "Okay, I can make it from here." She turns around and stops directly in front of him. "You can go back to your car now. Thanks for dinner." She notices he's not going anywhere.

"I came all this way, right?" He smirks. "What's a few feet?" He pushes her back towards the car.

Rory sighs. "You're gonna kiss me now, aren't you?"

Jess smirks again. "Is that what you're worried about?"

"No!" She says quickly. "I just meant—I mean…" She trails off noticing the amusement in his eyes.

He looks down at her lips. "I thought you liked when I kissed you." Beat. "I specifically remember you asking me to do it again then—"

"Okay, I wasn't thinking clearly then…" She quickly cuts him off before he goes any further.

He moves closer to her. She notices and her breath and heart rate quickens. "Are you thinking clearly now?"

She can feel his breath tickling her lips and she can't think straight. "…Yes, no—what?" Can barely form a coherent thought.

Jess chuckles. "I'll take that as a 'no'." He slides his hands up the side of her waist and back down again. She's getting goose bumps. "Ask me to kiss you." He tells her.

Her eyelids are fluttering and she can't process what he's saying, can barely remember what its like to actually think properly. "…Jess…" That's not how she intended it to come out, but that's how it does. Like she's begging. Pleading.

He takes in her reaction as he backs away, partly for amusement. "You don't have to worry." She barely registers his voice before the cold air reaches her. "See you tomorrow."

Her heart rate finally slows back to normal and she opens her eyes to see him walk away. Looking around she realizes she's backed into the car with her stomach exposed and her nails digging into her palm. The next second she's sitting in her car trying to labor her breathing. She shakily runs a hand through her hair before starting the car and pulling out of the lot.

--

**A/N: Pleeaaaaaasssssssssseeeeeee review!! If you don't I'll...I'll...be very very very upset!! Lol. Review please. :D**


	11. Friends and Nothing More

**A/N: God, I'm sorry. I know I'm taking long to update but I don't normally have the time to write! But hopefully the updates are less sporadic because school just closed for the break! Whoo-hoo! Oh and I've always liked Dave and not Zach. Love Adam Brody! Sorry. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own a picture of the cast. Nothing more**

**--**

Rory looks back to Lorelai and tries to focus on what she's saying. Something about the festival and Taylor. She sighs and looks back over to Kirk.

"Earth to Rory." Lorelai waves her hand in front of Rory's face. "Are you listening?"

"…Yea?" Lorelai notes the questioning tone in her voice.

"Do I need to dress up as Kirk to get your attention?"

Rory looks surprised not knowing that Lor had noticed her sudden attention to Kirk. "Ah…no." Beat. "What were you saying?"

Lorelai sighs. "Do you think Taylor and Kirk will remember to bring the matches for the Firelight festival this year?" She grins.

Rory smiles. "I don't see why they should start now." She shrugs. "You'd think after 10 years now, one of them would remember."

"You'd think after the first year they'd remember." They laugh and Rory's gaze slides over to Kirk's table once again. This time Lorelai turns her gaze there as well and notices Kirk eating a salad. "New diet, Kirk?"

"Huh?" He looks around and notices Lorelai and Rory watching him. "Oh, this?" He signals to the salad. "Yea, I figured none of the other diets are working, I thought why not try a regular salad diet."

Lorelai looks amusedly at Rory before turning back to Kirk. "That's because those weren't real diets, Kirk."

Kirk looks flabbergasted. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay, maybe the 'juice diet'," She looks to Rory who nods agreeing. "But come on seriously, a 'dairy diet'? Seriously? What was that other diet hun?" She turns back to Rory.

"Oh, the soy one?" Lorelai nods looking back to Kirk.

"Those were too."

"If you say so, Kirk." They go back to sipping their coffee.

"I borrowed mother's encyclopedia and looked up 'diets'." Beat. "It was there." He repeats it when he notices them talking animatedly, before turning back to his salad. He goes back to eating his salad, before turning back to them. "Mmm, this is good. Do you wanna try it?"

Lorelai sighs. "No thanks, Kirk."

"Seriously you should try this." He holds out the salad towards Rory, who eyes it and hesitates.

Lorelai looks back to Rory incredulously. "Oh my god. You're actually considering it?"

Rory looks back to Lorelai guiltily. "What? I was curious!"

Lor shakes her head. "No one's that curious." She turns back to Kirk. "Kirk, please. Can we get back to our discussion now?" It was rhetorical. She's not waiting for a response, she turns back to Rory.

"Fine." Kirk gets up and moves to the table farthest from them.

Luke exits the kitchen and places their order in front of them.

"Thanks sweetums." Lor smiles wickedly. Luke glares and walks back behind the counter.

"'Sweetums'?" Rory looks at Lorelai curiously.

"All this week I've been coming up with cutesy nick-names for Luke. He hates it."

Rory nods and they eat in silence for a while, before Lorelai looks up again. "Seriously you were actually curious about trying salad? From Kirk nonetheless?"

Rory sighs. "Can we drop this, please?"

Lorelai looks back to her food. "Dropping."

"Thank you." She looks around the diner and her eyes fall on Kirk's table yet again.

Lorelai notices.

--

Rory walks down the hall and stops hesitantly in front Jess' office. She raises her hand to knock when the door opens. Hepburn exits.

"Ms. Gilmore? Business or pleasure?" He stops in front of her.

"Ah…I—" She shakes her head. "I…" He smiles before walking off. Rory lets out a sigh of relief before entering the office.

Jess puts his pen down upon her entrance. "Hey, have a seat."

"Ah, no. Thanks." He raises his eyebrows, so she offers an explanation. "I can't stay long." He nods, waiting for her continue. "Um…I don't know if you remember but the Firelight Festival is coming up. It'll be pretty boring but Luke'll be there. Me and mom wanna see if Kirk or Taylor will actually remember the matches this year." She smiles trying to ease the tension she was suddenly feeling. "Luke and mom'll be there." She repeats not noticing that she mentioned it before. "So will Lane and Dave." She adds last minute. Jess smirks noticing the pattern. She notices his smirk. "I mean you don't have to go, only if you want to." She folds her arms and looks around waiting for him to say something. "There'll be food." She blurts out stupidly. His smirk widens. "But you knew that. Right." She looks around the office. He studies her movements. "Say something, please."

"Huh." He does it to get on her nerves.

"Something other than 'huh' please." She moves towards his desk.

"You and me? Together in Stars Hollow? It'll be like old times." He comments sardonically. "With Lorelai and Luke. Namely Lorelai." Pause. "Does she know you're asking me this? What will she say when I show up in Stars Hollow?"

"'Hi Jess, nice to see you'?" She smiles innocently.

"Nice try."

"She'll be fine with it." Pause. "Besides this is a friend thing."

He smirks again. "'A friend thing'?" His tone is light but he's serious. "The last thing you and I are is friends." Rory doesn't respond. She looks down at the carpet. "'A friend thing'." He repeats looking down at his notes. "Sure, why not?" He meets her gaze.

"Okay." Rory replies relieved.

He nods. "Okay."

Rory nods and moves towards the door before spinning back around. "Oh, it's this weekend."

He nods and watches as she exits. When she does he chuckles and picks up his pen and continues his writing.

--

**A/N: Drop me a review guys! Pleeeeeeeaaaaaassssssssssssseeeeee. {This is me begging. Literally.}**


	12. Maybe, Baby

**A/N: Sorry it takes me so long to update guys! I will update on 'Betrayed By Love' and 'Love Is In the Heir' either later today or tomorrow. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own me myself and I. Nothing else.**

**--**

Rory enters the house and looks around for Lorelai. "Mom?" She takes off her jacket and drapes it over the coat rack. "Mom!?" She walks to the kitchen and back before noticing Lorelai sitting on the couch. "You'll never guess what happened at work today. I was talking to Sarah, as I'm walking back through the hall—" She notices Lorelai isn't saying anything. "Mom?" Lorelai looks up at her and right away she notices something is wrong. "What's wrong?" Lorelai doesn't respond and Rory takes another step forward when she notices the _First Response _next to Lorelai and she stops in her tracks.

Lorelai takes note of her reaction. "Is there something you wanna tell me?"

"_No!" _She starts quickly. "I mean, it's not what it looks like. I just—" She doesn't know how to explain.

"You just what?" Lor waits expectantly.

"I wasn't sure…I wanted to be sure…"

"And…?" Rory doesn't respond. Lorelai shakes her head. "_You're pregnant."_

"_No!" _Beat. "I'm not."

"What about the other day in Luke's? I mean you were gonna eat _salad. From Kirk."_

"That was nothing. I was just—"

"You weren't curious and it's not nothing!" Rory sighs and folds her arms looking at her shoes. "_You're pregnant. For Jess." _She spits out bitterly. "I knew this would happen!"

"You're overreacting. I haven't even taken the test yet." Rory reasons.

Lorelai shakes her head. "_You're pregnant."_

Rory throws her hands up. "Please stop saying that!"

"I can't stop saying it because it's true!"

"You don't know that."

"And you don't know that you're not." She sighs and puts her head in her hands. Rory looks at her and looks around the room before grabbing her jacket off the coat rack and exiting the house.

--

Lorelai exits the elevator and enters _the Times _looking around the reception.

"Hi, can I help you?" The secretary asks her.

"I don't think so." She barely spares her a glance before walking around the hallway. She stops looking around before spotting Jess walking with an elder man. "Jess!"

Jess looks up from the papers in his hand and sighs openly upon seeing Lorelai. He says something to the other guy, who nods and heads back in the opposite direction, before walking in Lorelai's direction. He doesn't stop when he walks past her he continues walking until he reaches his office and opens the door. "What can I do for you, ma'am?"

Lorelai doesn't look at all amused. "You know why I'm here."

Jess pulls out his chair and sits before looking up confused then turning to shuffle through a calendar on his desk. "I'm sorry, did we have an appointment?"

Lorelai ignores him. "You think this will help win Rory back?" Jess stops flipping through the calendar and watches her. "Some kind of sick plan?"

Jess smirks. "Actually, no. This might surprise you, but this wasn't my idea. Rory asked me to." He's referring to the firelight festival. She isn't.

Lorelai looks horrified. "For once in your life, be serious Jess."

"Why don't you think I'm serious?" He answers his own question. "Because it's not like her? Believe me I was just as shocked as you are." Pause. Lorelai tries to gather her thoughts and tries to shake the mental image of Rory asking Jess to impregnate her. "She was in here the other day asking me. She said it was for this weekend."

"_What?!" _Jess looks at her confused. "What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?" He sits up in his chair.

"Rory!" She waits for him to respond. He waits. _"She missed her period!"_

Jess' smirk fades. "Rory's pregnant?"

Lorelai stops. "You didn't know?" Jess doesn't respond. Lorelai sighs and quickly exits the office.

--

Rory exits the kitchen of _The Dragonfly_ and heads behind the counter.

Michel looks at her. "Why are you here?"

"I thought I'd help out today."

"Well, go help out somewhere else." He tells her bitterly.

"No, why should I?" Rory looks at him curiously.

"Because, I was here first."

"Uh huh." Beat. "I'm not going anywhere, Michel. You can take it up with mom since she was the one who sent me out here."

Michel storms towards the kitchen. "_Lorelai!"_

Rory smiles and watches after him, before flipping through the appointment book.

"What does a guy have to do to get some help around here?"

Rory looks up and notices Jess. "Jess, hi."

"Hi." He smirks.

--

**A/N: I would appreciate it if you guys told me what you think. So review! Oh, more Literati interaction next chapter.**


	13. AN: Help!

**A/N: Guys I'm writing the next chapter as you guys read this—and by writing I mean typing. I just want to do a survey!!! Well sort of, can you guys review and tell me if you want Rory to be pregnant or not! Thanks guys, I appreciate the reviews!!! Keep 'em comin'! :D**


	14. The Ins and Outs of Inns

_**A/N: I love the title and the epi. 'The Ins and Outs of Inns'. I thought it was appropriate here. Thanks for the reviews guys!!! They're the reason I write!!! Enjoy. :D Oh, and I'm posting a new story check it out!**_

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing._**

**_--_**

_Rory exits the kitchen of __The Dragonfly__ and heads behind the counter._

_Michel looks at her. "Why are you here?"_

"_I thought I'd help out today."_

"_Well, go help out somewhere else." He tells her bitterly._

"_No, why should I?" Rory looks at him curiously._

"_Because, I was here first."_

"_Uh huh." Beat. "I'm not going anywhere, Michel. You can take it up with mom since she was the one who sent me out here."_

_Michel storms towards the kitchen. "__Lorelai!"_

_Rory smiles and watches after him, before flipping through the appointment book._

"_What does a guy have to do to get some help around here?"_

_Rory looks up and notices Jess. "Jess, hi."_

"_Hi." He smirks._

"Um…w-what are you doing here?" She closes the appointment book and looks back at him. "The festival's not 'til tomorrow." She adds.

"I know." He studies her. Rory looks back down at the desk when he doesn't look away. "I finished my article early. Thought I'd come down early." He explains.

"Oh."

He reads into her response. "Is that a problem?"

"No, no." She quickly smiles. "I'm glad." He nods and looks around before catching her eye again. "What?"

"Are you gonna get me a room or do I have to do that myself?" He smiles lazily.

"Right, okay." She looks down at the computer. "How long are you staying?"

He shrugs. "You can just book it for three days." Rory nods.

"Did you send Michel in there?" Lorelai signals, exiting the kitchen.

"No. You know how Michel is." She lies. "He just assumed."

Lorelai sighs. "Well he sure is making an ass out of me and him." Jess chuckles and she turns surprised. "Oh. Jess." She stumbles awkwardly. "Didn't see you there."

"That happens a lot."

She searches for something to say. "What are you doing here?" She doesn't wait for him to respond, she turns to Rory. "What is he doing here?"

"Um…he came to visit."

"Stars Hollow. You came to visit Stars Hollow?" She asks questioningly, facing him again.

"Well, I just missed you all so much." Jess says sarcastically.

"You shouldn't have." She looks back to Rory, who has a 'be nice' expression on. "You should stay for the firelight festival."

"I should." He agrees.

Lorelai sighs. "He knows." She directs her comment to Rory.

Rory shrugs. "I might have mentioned it."

"Which entails…?"

"Nothing." Rory answers quickly.

"That still doesn't explain what he's doing here." She signals around to the inn.

"She says like he's not even standing there." Jess comments sardonically.

Rory glares. "He's here to stay."

"In a room?"

"No, I just thought I'd take the couch in the living room. Hope you don't mind." Jess intervenes again.

"I'd actually prefer if you went—"

"So…" Rory starts loudly, looking back to the computer. Jess smirks. "Room 6 or 13?"

"How come he gets to choose?" Lorelai makes her presence known once again.

Rory directs her response to Jess. "Room 13 has a better view but room 6 is bigger. Bigger TV, bigger bathroom, bar."

"Well I think I've been used to beauty over materialism for the past few years. I better stick with that."

Rory flushes at the double meaning. Lorelai puts her forefinger to her throat and pantomimes vomiting. Jess smirks. "Room 13 it is." He holds his credit card. She shakes her head. "Your moneys no good here."

"What?" Lorelai exclaims. "Yes it is. Everybody's money is good here. Especially his." She takes the card out of Jess' hand.

"No. It's not." She takes the card out of Lorelai's hand and gives it back to Jess.

"Yes. It is." Lorelai mocks once again taking the card back.

"Mom." Rory scolds.

Lorelai sighs and hands the card back to Jess. "Enjoy your stay.

Rory hands him the room key. "Up the stairs, take a right down the hallway, its across the hall from 12." She directs.

"I think that's gonna be a little hard to follow through." He tells her sardonically.

Rory nods. "I'll show you." She plays along.

"Hold it right there." Lorelai places her hand in front of Rory, blocking her exit. She looks suspiciously between the two. "I'll show you." She heads around the counter and up the stairs. Jess looks back to Rory before following.

--

Lorelai opens the door to the room and enters. "This is it." She signals around the room. "So, bed's over there."

"So that's what that was."

"Clean towels in the bathroom. Maids come in around 9 and 6 everyday."

"Huh."

"Uh, I guess that's it." She turns and exits. Jess takes his bag off his shoulder and rests it on the bed. "Oh and Jess?" Lorelai reenters. "About Rory…"

"Damn and I thought you forgot."

She ignores him. "She is still my daughter."

"Really?" He acts surprised.

"That means that all prior threats still apply."

Jess sighs and begins unpacking. "Are you going somewhere with this?"

"If you hurt her I will castrate you." She promises.

He stops and faces her. "And you're so sure that I'm going to right?" It's rhetorical. He reads her expression. "I won't hurt her."

"You did before."

"I won't hurt her." He restates.

"You mightn't do it intentionally, but if that's the case the rules will still apply and—"

"I won't hurt her." He doesn't wait for her response, he turns and continues unpacking.

Lorelai watches him for awhile before exiting.

--

"Well, I'm sure you did book it for tomorrow but someone must've written it down for next Friday." Rory says into the phone. "I'm sure you are angry and disappointed." She rolls her eyes and hears a chuckle. She looks up and sees Jess sitting on the couch across from the desk. She flushes and looks down. "Well the most we can do is push it up for Sunday and—" He cuts her off and she sighs. She can feel Jess watching her and she turns her back to him. "Actually no, the manager left me in charge." She sighs again and sees Jess move into her line of view. He signals to her then himself then the door. Rory looks confused and mouths 'what?' Once again he signals between them and then outside. She doesn't hear the man on the other end. She looks around the inn before looking back to Jess and signaling across the room to Lorelai. He follows her gaze and then shrugs. Rory smiles, then she remembers the voice on the other end. "Oh. What?" Pause. "No. I—" She sighs. She catches Lorelai's eye and holds the phone out. Lorelai sighs and excuses herself from an elder couple and takes the phone from Rory. Rory heads around the counter and walks over to Jess. "You know, you could get a girl fired."

He smirks. "Well it's a good thing you don't actually work here." He signals to the door. "Let's walk."

Rory shakes her head. "I can't." Beat. "There's still more to do here. I mean I can't just leave and—"

"Five minutes." He promises.

Rory sighs and looks back around the inn. "Okay."

He nods and signals to door again.

They exit.

--

"I'm sorry, what?" Lorelai looks distractedly away from Jess and Rory and focuses her attention to the man on the other end of the line. "No." Pause. "The most we can do is give you a nice fruit basket." Beat. "Okay, I'll see you Sunday." She sighs and hangs up and looks back at the lobby. She sighs again when she notices Rory and Jess is gone.

--

**_A/N: Please review guys!! Oh and I did take your suggestions into consideration!! Don't forget to check out my other stories!! :D_**


	15. Walking Disaster

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! This chapter is especially for Lizzy likes the hot guy because I promised I would have this chapter up yesterday!! Lol, sorry :( I just got a little distracted! I made this chapter extra long guys cuz I don't know when I'll be able to update since school's starting next week! Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

**--**

Rory enters the Dragonfly and enters the kitchen and spots Lorelai standing by the table talking to Sookie who's near the stove.

Lorelai notices her first. "Hey hun." She studies her.

"Hey." She takes off her coat, moving a cookie from the tray. "Hey Sookie."

Sookie waves, stirring the pot in front of her. "Hey Rory."

"So…" Lorelai starts. "How was Jess?"

Rory chokes. "What?"

Sookie rushes over. "Yea, 'what'?"

Lorelai looks back and forth between the two. "No, I don't mean how was Jess," She changes the tone of her voice. "I meant how your walk with Jess was?" Sookie deflates.

"Oh." Rory goes back to eating her cookie. "It was…okay." She shrugs before turning around. She doesn't bother to ask her how she knew.

"Whoa!" Lorelai stops her. Sookie rushes towards them again. "Did you see it?" She asks Sookie.

Sookie nods. "I saw it."

"Saw what?" Rory looks between them.

"Yea saw what because I'm not seeing it." Sookie admits.

Lorelai sighs, turning back to Rory. "You hesitated." Rory looks confused. Sookie 'oooh's. "Hesitated." Lor repeats. "Meaning that it wasn't 'okay'." She waits for Rory to confirm. She doesn't. "Something happened."

Rory shifts uncomfortably. "Nothing happened."

"What happened?" Sookie bounces up and down excitedly.

Rory sighs.

--

_Rory and Jess walk down the street in no particular direction. The air is thick. It's silent until Jess breaks it._

"_So…"_

_Rory copies. "So…"_

_Jess continues. "Here we are."_

_Rory repeats it again. "Here we are."_

_Jess turns slightly facing her. "Are you just gonna repeat everything I say?"_

"_How do I know you're not repeating everything I say?" She asks._

"_Because I say it first." Jess responds simply._

"_Well, maybe you're imagining things." _

"_Huh." He pushes his hands in his pockets. "I hope not." He looks at her._

_Rory looks at him and holds his gaze. She flushes and looks down and changes the subject. "So where do you wanna go?"_

_He sighs. "Nowhere."_

"_Well, what do you wanna do?"_

_He shrugs. "Nothing."_

"_Hmm." Rory nods pondering. "You know you're not exactly helping."_

"_I know." He chuckles._

_They walk a few more feet before Rory turns in front of him blocking his path. "What are we doing here Jess?"_

"_Walking." He responds._

_Rory sighs. "I mean here," She signals around them. "You, me—Stars Hollow. Together."_

"_I asked you to go for a walk and you said yes."_

_Rory sighs, knowing he's being difficult intentionally. "Jess…"_

"_Well, you asked me to come here Rory. Why don't you tell me." He quickly turns the tables on her and she doesn't like it. He takes a step closer to her and she hesitates but stands her ground. "Rory, why'd you ask me to come here?"_

"_I—um…" She can't talk—can't concentrate with him staring at her like that. "I don't know."_

_His gaze moves to her lips and he leans towards her._

"_Hey Rory."_

_Rory quickly takes a step back and Jess looks at her and sighs before turning away and facing Kirk._

"_Hey Kirk." Rory greets as he approaches._

_Kirk's gaze moves to Jess. "Jess." Jess nods, smirking. "I heard you were back in town."_

"_Huh." He doesn't confirm nor deny the accusation._

_Kirk takes it as a confirmation. "Why?"_

_Jess' smirk widens. "I missed you too much."_

_Kirk doesn't respond, he just stares. "Taylor's not gonna be happy about this."_

"_That's also one of the reasons."_

_Rory changes the subject. "What are you wearing?"_

_It takes Kirk a moment before he realizes she's talking to him. He pries his gaze away from Jess and looks down at his clothes. He's wearing a jogging suit, a band around his wrist and a headband. "Oh, this. I'm teaching the new aerobics class at Ms. Patty's."_

"_Star's Hollow has an aerobics class?" Rory asks surprised._

"_Well, actually this is the first class. I've been putting up flyers all week."_

"_Think anyone will show?" Jess asks. Kirk looks back to Jess._

_Rory quickly cuts off Kirk's response. "I'm sure somebody will."_

"_Really?" Jess turns to her. "I'm not."_

"_You'd be surprised at how many people want to do aerobics to stay in shape." He doesn't look phased by Jess' comments._

"_I'm sure I would be." Kirk doesn't miss the sarcasm._

"_So…what time does it start?"_

_He looks at his watch. "Now actually. I should be running along."_

"_Nice chatting with you." Jess tells him sardonically. Kirk looks at him again before walking off. "You really think someone'll show up?" He asks her._

"_I'll be surprised if his mother shows up." Jess chuckles._

_--_

"Highly unlikely. 'Mother'. Good one." Lorelai laughs. Sookie nods, agreeing.

Rory glares. "Do you wanna hear this or not?"

They quickly sober. "Sorry."

"Continue."

--

"_Why'd you ask me to come here, Rory?" Jess asks again. "And this time an honest to God answer. You do know."_

_Jess and Rory are sitting under the gazebo. Rory looks at her hands. "Why did you ask me to go for a walk?" Rory counters._

"_Because, I wanted to talk." He admits._

_Rory looks taken aback. She hadn't expected him to actually answer the question, which would give her an excuse not to answer his. "Talk." She repeats._

_He nods. "About us."_

"_Us." She repeats unconsciously. "There's an us?"_

_Apparently it's the wrong thing to say. "Well this isn't exactly a 'no strings relationship'." _

"_Well, I was under the impression that it was."_

"_Sex isn't 'no strings'."_

_Rory glares. "Oh, that's right. I forgot, you would know all about 'no strings sex'." She gets up and walks away._

"_Why the hell do you always do this?!" He's shouting now. "When everything's going fine, you ruin it!"_

_She turns around abruptly. "Don't you dare blame me for this. You ruined it!" She's shouting as well. "Us." She adds bitterly._

"_Can't you just let this go?" Beat. "Just let it go, Rory!"_

_She sighs and tucks her hair behind her ear. "I can't do this, I don't wanna talk about this anymore." She turns and walks away again before turning back. "When was the last time you saw her?"_

"_Rory." Jess growls. _

_Any normal person would've backed down. She stands her ground. "Just—out of curiosity." She shrugs. "When?" This time Jess is the one to turn and walk away. She follows him. "Just tell me! I want to know!"_

_He turns around and blocks her path. "At the funeral!" He sighs. "At the funeral." He repeats more calmly._

_Rory stops, not knowing what to say. "Funeral? What funeral?" She doesn't wait for him to confirm. "Jimmy's funeral?" All the anger drains from her voice. "The funeral you told me not to come to? Did you want __**her **__there?"_

"_I didn't want her there!"_

"_Did you just not want me there?"_

_Before Jess can respond Ms. Patty appears. "Rory, dear. Is everything okay?" She looks between them. Jess throws his hand up and turns away._

"_Everything's fine, Ms. Patty." She folds her arms and looks down._

"_Hello Jess." She smiles. Jess nods. "Staying for the festival? We simply must catch up."_

"_Wouldn't miss it." She doesn't catch his sarcasm._

_She smiles and looks between them once again. "Well, I should be getting back to the inn." Rory starts._

"_Of course dear." She heads back inside the studio. As soon as she's gone Rory's smile fades and she glares at Jess and walks off._

"_Rory." He follows._

"_Hey, Rory." Jess sighs again and runs his hand through his hair. "Jess. I didn't know you were in town."_

_Jess smiles. "Just got here this morning."_

_Luke nods and his eyes flicker between Jess and Rory. "You two back together?"_

_Rory shakes her head. "No."_

_Jess looks at Rory. "You're getting whiplash." He tells her._

_She ignores him and continues to shake her head. "No, we're not."_

_Luke nods. "So, Jess you here for the festival."_

_Jess looks back to Rory. "God knows why." He looks back to Luke._

"_We should catch up." Jess nods. "Stop by the diner anytime."_

"_He's free now." Rory responds before Jess answers. "Aren't you free?" She faces him, daring him to say no._

_Jess looks back at Luke. "I'm free." _

_Luke nods and swings his hands awkwardly. "Well, you remember where it is right?" Jess nods. "Good." He walks away. Jess watches him walk away before looking back to Rory, who smiles innocently._

"_Now you don't have to be around me." She turns and walks away._

_Jess sighs and turns and follows Luke._

_--_

"Liar!" Lorelai accuses.

Rory jumps. "What?"

"You said nothing happened." She explains. "Luke, Ms. Patty and Kirk—ha!—that's not nothing." Beat. "Especially Kirk, but collectively." She shakes her head. "You were destined to run into every townie in the town."

Rory sighs and walks out of the kitchen.

Sookie laughs. "Sook, you okay?"

She continues to laugh. "You said 'townie'." Lorelai smiles.

--

Rory walks behind the desk and sees Jess enter the inn. He looks at her and she quickly looks down at the appointment book and pretends to flip through. When she looks back up he's gone. She sighs.

--

"Turndown service." The maid calls.

"Just a second!"

Rory stops not noticing anybody in the hallway with her. She notices the maid standing in front of room 13. She stops and looks around the hallway again before walking up to the maid. "Hi." The maid just looks at her. "Ah—Matilda!" She notices her nametag. "Good. Matilda. Don't worry about it. I got this." She signals to the sheets in her hand and the door.

"But Ms. Gilmore said—"

"She won't mind." Rory assures her. "I'm her daughter. You go take a break." She takes the sheets out of her hand.

"Uh…" She doesn't know what to do. "Okay." She turns and walks back down the hall.

Rory sighs and faces the door and knocks. Seconds later shuffling can be heard behind the door before its pulled open. Jess sighs. "I said 'just a second'…" He trails off when he sees Rory. "Huh." He looks at her and she shifts awkwardly under his scrutiny. Then he walks back into the room leaving the door open behind him.

Rory takes this as her cue and enters. She looks around hesitantly looking for Jess. He's nowhere in site. "Ah…I just came to do turndown." She spins taking in the room. He walks out of the bathroom seconds later and heads to the dresser pulling the top drawer open. She waits for him to respond. He doesn't. "We're kind of short staffed…"

He looks at her curiously. "Okay." He heads back to the bathroom.

Rory sighs and heads over to the bed before tugging the sheets off, suddenly wishing she had let Matilda do her job. She quickly changes the sheets and picks up the new ones and heads for the door when she turns back around. "Jess. I…"

He nods. "I know."

"You know what?" Rory looks confused.

"That you're here to apologize." He tells her matter-of-factly.

Rory fumes. "Why should I be the one to apologize?!" She waits for him to respond but cuts him off when he starts. "This is your fault! Why can't you ever apologize when it matters the most? You just—"

"Sorry."

"No, you're just saying that now. And—"

"No, I mean it." He cuts her off. "For…not letting you come to the funeral, for…letting—Shelly stay there," He sighs. "I should've just kicked her out before they lowered the coffin…"

Rory rolls her eyes. "I didn't mean kick her out." She sighs.

"I know." He admits and then continues after awhile. "She just showed up."

"It's not that she was there, it's…" Rory huffs. "I knew them first."

Jess smirks. "I know."

"I mean, how is it fair that she got to be there and I didn't?"

"It's not." Jess entertains her. He turns serious. "If I'd have known I would have chosen you."

"Oh." Rory nods gratefully. "Well, thanks." He smirks and nods. She looks around briefly, quickly sobering. She picks up the sheet on the bed briefly wondering how it got there. She turns back and faces Jess. "I'm sorry, too."

He crosses the room in two strides. "It's okay." Rory hesitantly takes a step back and the corner of the dresser digs into her shoulder. She turns around and looks at it startled, not remembering it being that close. When she turns back around Jess is standing in the front of her. "Rory, relax." He tugs the sheet out of her hand with little force and moves closer to her. She turns unintentionally and ends up with the back of her knees against the bed. Jess' hand moves to her waist while the other moves to her neck and his thumb traces over her lips. Her lips unconsciously part as he leans forward and kisses her. Unconsciously, her hands move up to his chest and she can barely register the pressure he's applying on her waist—pushing her back on the bed. When he moves on top of her, he hovers—for just a second and smiles down at her reassuringly—before moving his lips back over hers. Both his hands move to her waist this time and he moves them under her and lifts her farther back on the mattress. There hips collide and Rory gasps from the contact. He takes the opportunity to slide his tongue inside her mouth. Her toes curl at the way his tongue gently probes hers. He slides his hands back up her waist taking her shirt with it, tossing it in the direction of the door. His shirt isn't long behind. Soon all they are is a tangle of limbs. His tongue trails down her collarbone and he bites down and swirls over a sensitive spot when her nails dig into his shoulder.

"Rory, what's taking so long? Matilda said—" Lorelai enters the room, completely oblivious until her eyes meet the bed. "Oh god!" She quickly turns and exits throwing the door open in her wake.

Rory quickly pushes Jess up and sits up grabbing her shirt from the floor and putting it on. A blush works its way up her cheeks as she faces Jess as he is throwing his shirt over his head. He searches for something to ease the tension. "Is she gonna be okay?" He signals to the spot Lorelai previously fled.

Rory runs her hand through her hair and nods. "After she recovers from her stroke, yea." She smiles.

Jess chuckles and nods slowly running his tongue over his lips. "Are you?" Rory looks up surprised and opens her mouth to respond when Matilda enters the room.

She looks at their disheveled appearance and the bed sheets and flushes. "Um…Ms. Gilmore sent for you." She tells Rory before quickly exiting the room.

Rory looks back to Jess to see him smirking. "Um…I should—yea…" She signals to the door as well. He nods and watches as she exits. He turns and examines the room as Rory enters again and quickly grabs the sheets on the floor. "Right." She signals again to the door and exits leaving Jess chuckling. He shakes his head and runs his hand over the back of his head.

--

**A/N: Thanks for reading guys!! Now hurry and review before the line gets long!!!! Lol. :D**


	16. Risky Business

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews guys!! Appreciate it! They seriously keep me going. You guys are one in a million...love that song--lol. So here's the next chapter! I'm sorry to say that this story is soon ending. It should have about 20 chappies!! 21 the most. But don't let that depress you--this will, but I don't want to give too much away. Lol. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: No comment. (Which means that I don't own, so stop asking!)**

**--**

Rory walks down the hall and up the stairs to Lorelai's room. She enters the door and holds up two outfits when Lor looks up.

"Choose one." She directs her.

Lorelai ponders looking over the clothes in Rory's hand. "For?"

Rory looks around casually. "Dinner."

She doesn't look surprised. "With Jess."

Rory sighs hearing the warning tone in Lorelai's voice. "Just choose, please."

Lorelai sighs and looks back to the outfits. "Are you coming to the festival?"

Rory nods. "We're going there after." Lorelai nods and signals to the first outfit—a blue dress layered with a white vest and a multicolored belt. "Thanks." She walks out of the room and heads back downstairs. Lorelai soon follows, leaning against the doorpost. Rory notices. "What?" She asks.

Lorelai shakes her head. "Nothing, just—are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Lorelai looks at her, the answer written plainly across her face. "Mom." She warns. "It's just dinner." She laughs. "It's not like we're getting married."

Lorelai scoffs. "Well, I would hope not." Beat. "Just—be careful, okay? And I know—"

"Mom." Rory cuts her off. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."

Lorelai nods unsurely.

--

Rory and Jess enter the restaurant and walk up to the concierge at the podium. "Hi. Jess Mariano."

The man looks down at the list and strikes the name off. "Right this way." He walks them to their table and pulls out Rory's chair, then hands them their menus.

Rory waits until he leaves. "Fancy." She adds, looking around, noticing three guys in black suits. "Is that the mafia?"

Jess follows her direction. "If it is, you're being very suspicious." He looks back to his menu.

"Are you in the mafia?" Rory continues.

"No." He relates her question to the 'fancy' comment. "I know a guy."

"Are we gonna get 'wacked'?" She laughs.

Jess sighs and looks up. "Now where would the fun be in me answering that?"

--

Rory returns from the bathroom a few minutes later. "Oh my god, did you see that? That guy looked exactly like Gene Wilder! Mom would flip if I told her I got her Willy Wonka's autograph." She smiles. Jess looks at her seriously. "What?"

"Marry me." He blurts out.

Rory's smile fades. "What?" Her mind flashes back to her earlier conversation with Lorelai. In any other situation she would've laughed at the irony. But she didn't and it wasn't. She couldn't even think and process the situation. He repeats his earlier statement. Her mind flashes back over everything that's happened in the past month and wanders how everything changed so quickly. Then she thinks back four days ago. "You know don't you?" Pause. "Mom _told _you."

Jess looks confused. "Told me what?"

"Oh my god." She pulls the napkin out of her lap and throws it in the table. "_Oh my god!"_

"Rory."

"About the pregnancy test!"

People are turning around in their seats and staring. The concierge walks toward their table but Jess shakes his head and waves him off. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Because," She shakes her head. "It's the only reason you're asking me."

Jess clenches his jaw. "No its not."

"Yes it is." She looks at him incredulously. "I'm not an idiot and neither are you. You didn't think for one second that I would say 'yes' to this." Jess sighs and rubs his jaw. "The only reason you're asking me this is because you think I'm pregnant." She repeats.

"That's not the reason and you know it!"

Rory shakes her head again. "I can't believe this, mom was right. Again. We shouldn't have done this."

Jess laughs bitterly. "No surprise there." He's referring to Lorelai trying to get Rory to beg off.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean." He pushes his chair out. "I'm getting the hell out of here." He walks away.

Rory sighs and looks around the restaurant. People are still watching her and whispering. She gets up and exits.

--

Rory walks over to the bonfire where Lorelai, Luke, Lane and Dave are standing. "Hey." She greets.

"Rory!" Upon hearing Rory's voice Lane hugs her. "Hey. It's been too long, oh my gosh I have so much to tell you. You look different, but in a good way—more mature…"

"Whoa, slow down." Lorelai tells her. She smiles at Rory.

"Hey Rory." Luke greets. "Where's Jess?"

Rory's smile falters. "Oh, um…he's around here somewhere." She turns to Dave. "Hey Dave, too much punch?" She signals to Lane.

"Hey!"

Dave nods. "We couldn't stop her. I actually think there's none left."

Lorelai notices the change in subject and looks at Rory. "How was dinner?"

Rory looks at her knowingly. "It was…" She searches for the right word and comes up with 'eventful'.

"Uh oh."

"It's fine. Really. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Huh. There's a surprise." The air crackles as Jess approaches them. Lorelai looks between them. Lane looks worried. Luke and Dave oblivious. "Don't you two usually talk about everything?" He looks to Rory. "Why don't you tell her about this?"

Rory glares at him, warning him to stop. "Because it's none of their business." She doesn't mean it offensively. She just wants him to shut up.

"No, it is." He turns to the group. "Tell them, Rory."

"Jess…."

"You tell them everything else, why stop now?" Beat. "Tell them how I asked you to marry me." He urges her.

Lorelai looks to Rory. "He what?"

"Oh my god." Lane gasps. Dave doesn't know what to say or do. Luke stands there awkwardly.

They're causing a scene by now. It's the restaurant all over again. Only this time Rory cares—she doesn't want everyone staring at her. Ms. Patty, Babette, East Side Tillie, Taylor and Kirk to name a few. She folds her arms and looks at the grass.

Jess doesn't care—he continues anyway. "Oh that's not the best part, she said no!" He announces. "Yea apparently she thought I was asking her because she was pregnant." He shrugs. The whispers start.

"Jess…"

"Okay, that's enough." Luke guides Jess away from the crowd. Before everyone was staring at Jess, now Rory. She squirms under their scrutiny.

Lorelai guides Rory in the direction of the 'crap shack'.

The crowd breaks into an uproar.

--

Luke sits Jess in one of the chairs and goes upstairs. He comes back a few seconds later and hands Jess a beer. He mumbles a thanks and they sip in silence.

"…this wasn't how this was supposed to go…" Jess starts.

Luke nods. "I know."

--

Rory sighs. "I wanted to say 'yes'." She admits. "Just—not for the right reasons."

Lorelai nods knowingly, putting on the coffee pot. "You okay, hun?"

Rory shakes her head. "No."

--

**A/N: Review as you see fit!! :D Oh, there should be a chapter of 'Love Me Or Leave Me' up by friday! And/Or 'Betrayed By Love' and 'Love Is In The Heir'! Thanks again guys!!!**


	17. Say No More, It's Goodbye

**A/N: Hey guys!! Me again. I'm trying to get in as much updates as possible before the weekend starts--too much to do--so here's another chappie!! Thanks for the reviews!! :D Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Okay, I am calling the cops now. This is harrassment!**

**--**

"Thanks for choosing the Dragonfly." Lorelai picks up the key and hands it across the counter to them. "Enjoy your stay." The couple nod and walk away as she turns and hears Michel grumbling to himself. "Why so cheery?" She asks him sarcastically.

He responds bitterly. "I hate people."

"Oh, Michel…" Lorelai nods and looks sympathetic. "They hate you too." She smiles at him chirpily. He glares and walks off. She turns and faces the front when she hears a soft thud. She comes face to face with Jess. He has his hand over his room key on top of the counter. "Leaving so soon?"

He scratches the back of his head. "Yea, I should head back to work."

She looks at him. "It's Sunday." He waits for an explanation. "That means tomorrow is Monday; hence you have to be back to work tomorrow."

He nods. "I have to get some stuff together…" He looks uncomfortable. Lorelai nods understandingly. "I've outstayed my welcome." He shrugs. She takes the key from him. He nods again and backs away before he turns and stops. "I filled out one of those comment cards. I left it on the bed." He smirks.

"I look forward to reading that." She sighs, pondering. She stops him as he turns to leave. "Jess." Pause. "Just—give her time."

"Huh." He exits.

--

"I can't believe this." Lane shakes her head disbelievingly. "All this time, this has been going on?"

Rory nods. "I'm sort of still living it." She admits.

Lane nods understandingly. She studies Rory trying to figure out how to broach the subject. "So you just sat and he asked you?"

"I was—yea," She brings her knees up on the couch and hugs them to her. "I was just sitting there, rambling on about Gene Wilder—" Lane looks confused. "I saw his doppelganger," She explains. "And all of a sudden he's just sitting there, not saying anything, staring and I ask him what is it and he just comes out and says it."

Lane softens. "Oh my god."

"I'm still 'wow' myself." She picks at the end of her sleeve. "I couldn't say yes." She tells her friend. "I couldn't." It's more to herself. "He thought I was pregnant." She looks at her hands.

"Are you?" Lane can help but ask.

"Lane!" Rory berates.

She quickly apologizes. "I was curious."

Rory smiles, but quickly sobers. "It shouldn't matter."

"Absolutely." She waits expectantly for the answer. Rory throws the pillow at her. "Fine, but at least answer this." She leans forward on her knees. "How was it?"

"How was what?"

Lane rolls her eyes. "How was—Jess?"

"Oh." Rory flushes.

"I know you two have—before, but still…"

"He was—it was," She shrugs. "Great. Better than I remembered. He made me feel—" She's at a loss for words, so she shrugs again. "Indescribable."

Lane smiles and shakes her head. "I knew it."

Rory flushes again and looks back down at her lap.

--

Rory walks into the meeting room at the Times and automatically looks around. She walks further into the room and sits down. A few minutes later Hepburn and Sarah enter the room and head to the front.

"Okay, everyone's here right? Good, let's get started." Sarah starts.

Rory looks around and notices Jess isn't there. She holds her tongue. She sighs and leans back in her chair.

--

Rory quickly jogs behind Sarah trying to keep up. "Whoa, Sarah. Hey—hi." Sarah turns and faces her. Rory attempts to catch her breath. "Jess wasn't here."

Sarah looks confused. "And…"

Rory shakes her head. "And…you asked who wasn't here—so I thought…" She trails off.

"I know."

Rory looks confused. "You know." She repeats. "You know what?"

"That he wasn't gonna be here." She signals for them to walk and talk and heads down the hall.

Rory quickly follows. "How could you know that?"

Sarah sighs and faces Rory. "Jess is gone."

"Gone." She repeats. "Gone where?" Sarah puts her hand comfortingly on Rory's arm. Rory looks down at her arm. "Sarah. Gone where? I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

"Him and Hepburn are supposed to head back to Philadelphia—he's getting ready to leave." She takes in Rory's reaction.

"Oh." She retracts her hand and folds her arms across her chest instead. "Ah, when—when are they leaving?"

Sarah shrugs. "Could be Wednesday or Thursday." She tells her.

Rory nods. She turns and heads down the hall before hesitating. She faces Sarah again. "I—is he—?" She decides against it and continues down the hall.

Sarah watches after and sighs.

--

**A/N: I promise that in the next chapter you guys will definately find out if Rory's with child or not! Hehe. :D. I like that phrase. 'With child'. Lol. Review guys!!**


	18. Where You Lead

**A/N: Oh my god, I haven't updated this for the longest time!!! But have no fair, laurenventi is here!! Lolz, that rhymed. I'm trying to update all my stories at once, so I'm working on 'Betrayed By Love' and 'Love is in the Heir' and will hopefully update those soon. Once again sorry for the long wait guys and thanks for reviewing! Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**--**

"Absolutely not!" Lorelai doesn't even wait for her to finish.

Rory bites her lip. "Why not?"

Lorelai sighs. "Rory, you turned him down."

"Maybe I was confused. He looked sincere; maybe he didn't care if I was pregnant!"

"You're not." As if that explained everything.

"Isn't that more reason for me to go?"

"You said 'no'!"

"Only because I thought he had ulterior motives."

"Didn't we just do this?" She sighs frustrated.

Rory sighs and walks back to her room—"Fine." –and slams the door.

--

"Definitely." Lane urges. "You should do it!"

"I don't know, Lane." Rory shakes her head. "Suppose he changes his mind; suppose he's already changed his mind." She sighs.

"I seriously doubt that!" She assures her. "He loves you." She tells her wistfully.

"_Loved."_

"_Loves."_

It was quite ironic that she was fighting Lane's words now after she had tried to convince Lorelai. "How can you be sure?"

Lane laughs. "No one can doubt it, not even Lorelai." She searches for the right words. "The way he looks at you. Even Kirk can see it."

Rory rolls her eyes. "Well, if Kirk can see it…." She trails off, but quickly sobers. "Mom said no."

"What did you expect?" Rory looks confused. "You showed up on her doorstep two years ago, balling your eyes out…" Rory winces at the memory. "She's worried you're gonna get hurt again."

"He said he was sorry." She tells her friend.

"I know."

"He said he was drunk." Lane sighs. Rory continues. "He said he only wants to make me happy." Her friend softens. "I don't know what to do."

Lane smiles sympathetically. "Do what feels right."

--

Rory walks down the sidewalk heading away from Lane's a few hours later. She stops in front of Luke's and looks through the window. Luke is putting the chairs on top of the tables getting ready to close up. She walks towards the door then hesitates and turns back around and walks back down the sidewalk. When she reaches past Doose's she mumbles under her breath before turning back and walking up to the door again. She holds out her hand to open the door but her hand hovers there for a second and she thinks about just leaving again. Only this time Luke looks up. She curses under her breath and enters putting a smile on.

"Hey Luke." She greets.

"Hey." He looks at her for a second, studying her. "Coffee?"

"Please." She says it a little too quickly, breathlessly. He nods and heads behind the counter and grabs a to-go cup. She looks around awkwardly, until he asks a question. "Hmm?" She looks back at him and he repeats the question asking if Lorelai is at home. She nods and so does he as he puts the lid on her cup. She thanks him as he hands it to her and he says 'no problem'. She hesitates. "Luke, I…"

He cuts her off, not knowing she's about to ask about him anyway. "Listen, about Jess." She looks surprised. "He didn't know what he was saying, he was just upset." He's referring to the night of the festival and she knows it. She nods and looks down at the cup in her hands. "He needs time. To think; and he can't do that if you're there." He tells her as if he knew her thoughts.

Rory nods again. "I just, I have mom." She finds her voice. "I'm glad he had you." She doesn't wait for him to respond she turns and exits the diner, heading down the sidewalk.

--

When she enters the house this time she heads straight to her room. She deposits the coffee on her desk and stops when she meets Lorelai sitting on her bed. She watches her thoughtfully.

"What?" Rory finally breaks the silence.

She shrugs before admitting, "Luke called."

Rory deflates. "Oh." She turns and takes off her coat to hang it up, needing something to do besides stand there. "I just went there for coffee." She faces her again. "Not to ask about Jess."

Lorelai raises her eyebrow. "You asked about Jess?"

Rory looks surprised. "You said you talked to Luke."

"I did. He said you stopped by and that something was up. He wouldn't say what. Or that you asked about Jess." She pauses and sighs. "Why did you ask about Jess?"

"I didn't." She says quickly, mentally kicking herself. Lorelai looks skeptical. "I didn't." Rory repeats. "Luke told me that the only reason Jess acted that way was because he was upset." She leaves out the part about giving him time. "I told him it was good that Jess had him since I had you."

"And…"

"That's it."

"You forgot the part about giving him time."

Rory looks surprised. "You said that Luke didn't say anything."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I lied."

"Oh. My. God." Rory rolls her eyes. "You are unbelievable."

"Thank you." Lor nods briefly. "Now, back to the matter at hand."

Rory turns and walks out of the room. "There is no 'matter' to discuss."

Lorelai follows. "You went into Luke's."

"'Cuz I haven't been going there the last twenty something years." She says sardonically, rolling her eyes.

"You went into Luke's." She repeats as if Rory didn't hear the first time. "To Luke, might I add." Rory sighs. "To ask about Jess." Rory reaches the bathroom and closes the door, Lorelai sticks her hand out blocking it. _"Jess!"_

Rory rolls her eyes. "Your point being?"

"You never talk to Luke about Jess! You say it's too awkward." She reminds her.

Rory sighs again and looks down at the floor. "Can I use the bathroom now?"

Lorelai ignores her request and sighs. "You went to get Jess' address."

Rory quickly looks up and shakes her head. "What?! No, I-I just went there to—"

"You went there to get Jess' address." Rory clenches her jaw. After Rory doesn't respond, Lor continues. "Rory. Hun. Try to make me understand here, kid."

Rory loses it. "Oh, don't give me that. You knew how I felt about all of this! _God! _It was so obvious! I slept with him about a week after not seeing him for _two years! _I invited him to the festival and agreed to go to dinner with him even after the first one didn't go well." Her arms are flailing. "I didn't even care that I might've been pregnant!" She takes a breath. "I wanted to be. What is it gonna take for you to see that it doesn't matter that anyone else thinks? Not even you." Lorelai looks taken aback as Rory finishes and slides down against the door. She puts her head on her knees and the tears start to flow.

Lorelai sighs and moves to sit next to her. "Okay."

--

**A/N: Skip, skip to the loo my darl-ing! Reviews are love guys!!! :D Hint, hint. ;P**


	19. Good Will Hunting

**A/N: OMG guys!! I'm about to break down, this the last chapter of 'Drunk Or Not'. Tear. :( . I think the title is very appropriate: 'Good Will Hunting' because you know how good will is like loyalty so its like searching for--okay you guys aren't stupid, so....moving on. Okay, I got tired of Rory being the one who always walked away and stuff so a turn of events. Oh the italics are flashbacks. The flashbacks aren't in sequence, they are actually in reverse order, so it's from the latest to the earliest stuffs in their relationship. Oh! Also, although I don't like Max and Lor together I do like the scene where they're sitting on the porch together after Max's proposal and Lor is like 'I'm getting married', so, yea...credit to them. Oh and another thing--why do I keep forgetting these things? I love the commercial when the guy and gal are sitting on the couch and she says 'I promise to never wear a flannel nightgown' etc. so yea...lol. Enjoy guys and thanks for all your support with this story. Love you guys!!!**

**P.S. This is like the longest A/N ever!!!**

**Disclaimer: What I don't own now, I'll never own.**

**--**

Rory looks down at the slip of paper in her hands and looks back up at the building in the front of her. She puts one foot in front of the other and slowly, but surely makes her way to the stairs. Half way there she changes her mind and turns around heads back down the sidewalk when she sees a taxi pull up and the door opens. Hepburn exits and he looks at her knowingly before calling Jess and heading out to the taxi. Jess exits a second later with a bag in his hand. He pulls the door closed but stops when he sees her.

"…Hi." Her eyes flash to his bag.

He clenches his jaw. "What are you doing here?"

She looks around hoping that the answer will jump out at her. "…Ah, I'm not sure. I…I-I don't know what I'm saying here…"

He nods slowly. "Okay." Hepburn calls out to him and signals to his wrist watch and he waves him off before looking back to Rory expectantly.

"I'm not pregnant." He looks at her curiously. "That came out wrong."

"Huh. I figured you weren't." Its Rory's turns to look confused. "If you were you would've said something by now."

Then it hits her all at once. He knew. All this time. At the dinner, he knew. "Don't go." Rory starts.

Jess looks surprised. "What?"

"Just, stay. I want you to stay."

"Rory." He warns. "You don't know what you're saying."

She's not hearing him. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

The horn sounds again and he grabs his bag tighter and slings it over his shoulder. "That's not necessary." He pushes past her and starts down the stairs, until she calls after him. "Look Rory, I don't exactly know what you're trying to say here, but…" He shakes his head.

"I'm telling you not to go and…"

"Then what? You'll change your mind as soon as it's convenient?"

"No, I'm—"

He cuts her off again. "I can't do that Rory. Not again." He looks behind him at the taxi and looks back at her and his face softens. He tucks a strand behind her ear. "And I have to go." His hand trails to her cheek before he drops it back to his side and backs away and puts his bag in the trunk before getting inside.

--

She stands there, not knowing what to do. She couldn't hear anything around her and she could barely see. Partly because the rain was pounding down on her and partly because of the tears had started to fall. She didn't know which was which anymore and she didn't care. Her feet felt like lead and it took all the strength she had to turn around and walk away.

--

His mood wasn't getting any better. And the rain beating down on the window along with the bumper to bumper traffic wasn't helping anyone.

"…these briefs are absolutely ridiculous. Seriously who does this guy think he is…?" Hepburn rambles on next to Jess. "Are you even…?"

Jess mumbles an affirmative answer and focuses on the window.

--

_Rory moves towards the refreshment table and picks up the knife and dives into the cake. She grabs a plate and puts her slice on it. Hands appear around her waist and reaches for the cake. She hits them away and turns to face a scowling Jess._

"_So that's how you treat your new husband?"_

_Rory smiles. "When he's grabbing for my cake, yes."_

"_What happened to 'what's mine is yours'?"_

_Rory looks confused. "I think you've got it wrong, its 'what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine'" Jess chuckles. "Besides an entire cake is right there." She signals to it._

"_Yes but I want that piece." He signals to hers._

"_Tough luck, this is mine." She moves the cake as he reaches for it again, before grabbing a fork and digging in._

"_Cake tease." _

_Rory scoffs. "You're only saying that because I didn't give you any."_

_He nods. "So give me half and I'll take it back."_

_Rory looks outraged. "Half? No way!"_

"_Its cake."_

"_Exactly, its cake."_

"_You're going to choose cake over me?"_

_Rory pretends to ponder. "Hmm, let me see, yes."_

"_This isn't a great way to start our life together."_

"_It's nothing personal." She shrugs it off. _

_Lorelai approaches grinning. "Make sure I catch the bouquet." She tells her._

"_That's cheating."_

_Lor shrugs. "So…"_

"_Besides, you're already married."_

"_What does that have to do with—?"_

_Rory cuts her off. "He's trying to steal my cake." She quickly turns the attention to Jess._

_Lorelai gasps. "How dare you?"_

"_Its just cake." He repeats._

"_Take that back!" Pause. "You-you…"_

"_Isn't that your mother over there?" Jess asks her signaling behind her._

_Lorelai quickly turns around and looks in the direction pointed out, before gasping again. "Um…" She backs away. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go…" She signals in a random direction. "Go hide." She hurries away._

_Jess smirks and Rory pouts, before facing him again. His smirk fades. "Now can I have some cake?"_

"_Sure." She turns to the cake still sitting on the table and grabs out a chunk with her hand before smashing it in his face and walking away._

_--_

"Jess. We have a meeting with the CEO of Boeing in less than half an hour; you should be looking these over." He signals to the folder in his hand.

"I know those briefs backwards and forwards." Is all he offers.

--

"_There you are." Rory closes the front door behind her and walks further onto the porch and sits next to Jess._

"_I have something for you." He tells her._

"_Really?" She looks surprised. "I don't know what it could possibly be…" She puts on an act. "…flowers? No, that can't be it…um," She taps her chin. Jess pulls out a ring and Rory falls silent. "Oh."_

_He puts it on her finger. "You like it?" Rory nods silently examining the ring. "If you don't I can always change it." He pulls her hand in his and starts to remove the ring._

"_No. What are you doing?" She pulls her hand away._

"_I'm just gonna—" He reaches for her hand again._

"_No. It's mine."_

_He chuckles. "I know that."_

_She examines her ring again and ponders before looking back to Jess. "Are you sure you know what you're getting into?"_

_He stretches his legs out and leans back against the chair pulling Rory against his chest. "What do you mean?"_

"_I mean…are you sure you want to marry me? I mean, have you met my family? They're insane. Especially mom…"  
_

"_I think I've met her." Jess responds sarcastically._

"_Do you even know about Gran? Did I tell you that she's the first Lorelai? She's so mean! The only reason mom likes her is because she hates grandma, she actually tried to convince grandpa not to marry her…"_

"_Hey, hey." He cuts her off. "I'm not marrying them. I'm marrying you. I don't care how crazy they are."_

_Rory looks at him. "Even if they're Kirk crazy."_

_He pauses. "Even if they're Kirk crazy."_

_Rory nods and leans back against him again. "I think some of them are actually worse."_

_Jess stops and hesitates. "I don't think that's possible."_

"_It is." She assures him casually._

"_Huh."_

_Rory looks down at the ring again. "I'm getting married."_

_--_

"Jess, are you even listening?" Hepburn asks him.

Jess looks away from the window and sees Hepburn waiting expectantly. "Sorry." He says reluctantly.

"If you don't get your act together your gonna cause us to lose out on this deal." He doesn't bother repeating his prior statement.

Jess sighs and returns his gaze to the window.

_--_

This time Hepburn's sigh pulls him out of his trance. "Jess." Jess looks at him apologetically. He sighs again. "You're not focused here, so you sure as hell won't be of any use." He signals behind them, in the direction they came. "Go after her."

"What?" He looks at him surprised.

"You heard me." He signals again. "Before I change my mind." He looks back to the briefs in his hands, cueing Jess' exit.

Jess hesitates and goes to say something to Hepburn when he changes his mind. He pulls open the door and hops out before weaving his way through the cars and back to the sidewalk. He doesn't think about the rain blurring his vision and seeping through his clothes or the wind holding him back. Or the fact that he has no idea where she went or if he'll even find her. All he thinks about is her. With that he picks up his pace, causing him to collide with everybody in his path. People are spewing curse words at him in every direction, but he doesn't stop to apologize. His chest is burning, but he doesn't stop to rest. He keeps running even after he passes his apartment. He stops when he reaches the corner and looks around and sees Rory hailing a taxi. One slows to a stop in the front of her. He calls after her before breaking into a run again. She turns and looks at him surprised. He stops if front of the door, blocking her path.

"Wh-what are you--?" She starts.

"Just, give me a second." He holds up a finger. She waits expectantly as he takes a breath and searches for the right words. "I have been the biggest ass…" He starts.

"You gettin' in?" The cab drive asks her.

"Um…" She looks at Jess curiously before looking at the cab driver. "No." She turns back to Jess as the taxi pulls off and allows him to lead her closer to the wall. "…ah, what were you saying?" She's trying to focus on something other than his proximity.

"I broke my promise."

"What? You didn't break any—" She cuts herself off when she realizes what he's talking about. "Oh. It's okay. You didn't wanna do it anyway."

Jess' face falls. "I know, I'm sorry. It's not okay." He hesitates. "You know I never stopped loving you."

Rory stops. "At least it's one out of three." She grins trying to ease the tension.

He ignores her comment. "Just give me a chance; I'll do anything to make it up to you. Name it."

"Hmmm…" She plays along. "A chocolate pool."

"Done." He doesn't hesitate.

She looks at him seriously. Not because of his answer but because of how serious he was. "Um…you know I was just joking, right? You don't really have to get a—"

"I don't?" She shakes her head. "You just said—"

"Forget what I said."

"It's too late, it's already done." Rory huffs, but doesn't protest. "I love you."

Rory grins. "I know, I heard about the chocolate pool." He takes a step towards her and takes her hands in his, drawing slow circles on the backs of her hands. She looks down at their hands then back up at him. Her eyes unconsciously flicker to his lips as does his to hers. Surprisingly she makes the first move, taking another step and pressing her lips to his. He pulls her hands around the back of his waist and slides his tongue over her lips. She sighs and immediately grants him access. After a few seconds she pulls away and rests her forehead on his chest.

"Does that mean 'I love you, too'?" He smirks.

"Yes."

He nods. "Good."

"I missed you."

He kisses her again, but doesn't linger this time. "I missed you, too. A lot."

Rory quickly comes down from her high. "What about your meeting? And Hepburn? And--?"

"Don't worry about it." Jess tells her.

"Does this mean you're staying?"

He looks at her seriously, reading her expression. "As long as you want me to."

"That might be forever."

"Huh." He smiles. "I'm glad."

--

"_I promise to…never wear a flannel nightgown." Rory tells him._

"_How about you make that 'I promise to never wear a nightgown'."_

_Rory hits him. "Your turn." She adjusts herself on the couch, swinging her legs on Jess' lap and leaning back against the armrest._

_Jess groans and puts his head against the back of the couch. "I promise to never let you wear a flannel nightgown. Or any nightgown for that matter for longer than 10 seconds." He smirks._

"_Jess." Rory warns. "Be serious."_

"_I am." She glares. "Fine." His head goes back against the chair. "I promise…" He looks around hoping the answer will hit him, before looking back to her. "I promise to always be faithful to you. To never stop loving you. To never let you go." He tries to read her expression. "Better?"_

_Rory looks at him for awhile before a grin breaks out across her face. "Much."_

_He nods. "Good." In a second he removes her foot from his lap and jumps on top of her before recognition can dawn across her face. "Now about that other promise." He pulls her shirt up and over her head._

"_Jess, this isn't even a nightgown." Rory laughs._

"_Shh. You're ruining the moment." He kisses her._

_--_

The rain continues to beat down on them. They don't run for cover.

--

**A/N: Sniff, sniff. Guys, I'm not gonna cry, okay? NOT. Please tell me what you think about this final chapter. Excuse me, I have to....go...do--something. (Exits abruptly)**


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